Class_JlY i 2£g<3_3 



HISTORY 

OF 

NEW MEXICO 

SPANISH and ENGLISH 
MISSIONS 

OF THE 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
FROM 1850 TO 1910. 
IN DECADES 



IN TWO VOLUMES — VOL . I. 



BY 

THE REV. THOMAS HARWOOD, A.M.,D.D. 



WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 



EL ABOGADO PRESS 



AtBUQUElQUE. NKW MEXICO. 

1908. 




V 



1 , r 



DEDICATORY 



This Book is affectionately dedicated to the 
preachers, their families and friends, of the New 
Mexico Spanish and English Missions of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, whose reoeated requests 
for its publication has inspired the author with the 
hope that he might, with the blessing's of God, 
Write a book that shall be read with pleasure and 
^ profit; and if its perusal shall inspire the reader to 
greater benevolence, activity and zeal for th> cause 
of missions, and help to carry on the work for 
which the author has spent the morning", noonday 
and evening of his life, he will be content. Vol . I. 
price SI. The net proceeds from the sale of this 
book shall be applied to aid poor boys at the Boys' 
Biblical and Industrial School of the Aibuqtierqu e 
College, 

THE AUTHOR. 



Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 4th, 1998. 



CONTENTS 



Illustrations Pages 1, 2, 373-375, 

Introductory Notes ... 1-16, 



Fikst Decade-1850-1860 ... 17-49 



The Author asked to write; Early history-15- 
37-1869;-First Missionaries;-Reports and Xetters^, 



Second Decade-1860-1870 .... 50-70 



The Civil War;-The Baptists;-Dr. Durbin's 
prayer; Who will make the New Mexico Mission 
his Life Work?— In 1868 the author was asked by 
Bishop Ames to go to New Mexico*— In 1869 came; 
Father Dyer;— First Missionary trip;— Mrs. Har- 
wood;— Christmas Day;-Cherry Valley;— Col. W.R.. 
Tipton;— Incidents;— My first Lesson in Spanish. 



Thikd Decade-1870-1880 ...... 71-312 



New Year Day;- Life of Mrs. E. J. Harwood:-- 
Post Chapel;- Diarv in Spanish,--Serious Reflec- 
tions;— School Meetings:— Schools, at Cherry Val- 
ley, Tiotonville;--Churches, Elizabethtown, Tip- 
tonville;— Strange Things;- Weddings, Capt. Keys, 
Virginia Maxwell, The Maxwell Romance;— Con- 
ference;— Letters;- Lightning;- Rev, Mr. and Mrs. 



CONTENTS 



Buckner. 

1871 — Diary in Spanish ;-My first Sermon in 
Spanish ;--Funeral from the School;— Ciruelita;-- 
Conference;— Buggy ride;— Benito Garcia;— First 
Trip to Peralta;— Slept in the MouHtai&;— Hard 
Ride. . _ . 



^ 18.72— pages 158 to 182. The .Geperal, T Confer- 
ence-— New Mexico Mission--The Si'tiool-— Jesuits 
Alarmed— -Dr. Durbin's Praver---Penitentes--Let- 



ters. 



l873 r r-pages A 183^204., Bishop. Simpson— :Sup- 
erintendent-— Loiag Jouiney-- ; rTarautula--Indian 
Scare---Fort Stanton— Iyas Cruces— Silver City — 
El Paso— Paraje-— ^t, Craig- Pa Ipmas— Socorro. 



#<1 



lS'74— pages' iCew Mexico Correspon- 

dence— Thomas Harwpod— Mrs. ^Harwood — Rom- 
ish Superstition Indians— Jesuits— John Steele. 

1875— pages 261-275. Annaal Report — F. J tt 
Tolby . Dead — Campmeetiijg in t Maryland — S. B. 
Axtell— Answer £o Judge Axtell— Rev. O. P. Mc- 
Mains. . . 



1876— pa^es 275-285. . *£jbe Centennial Celebra- 
tion— Judgit Lee — Hon, AV'J. fcalhoun— First An- 

nual Meeting— Correspondence* 
< m s ; uir. j - *,g's 



CONTENTS 



' 1^77 -pages 285-296.' Watch' Nigh t— Second 
Annual Meeting-— Bishop Bowman— Santa Fe — 
Procession of Corpus Cristi — The Bishop's Sermon 
— Traveled all night— The Bishop at Midnight — 
The Bishop's Letter. a . 

1878— pages 296-30,4.' Bishop Simpson— Third 
Annua l Meeting — A Trip to Santa Pe— Pigeon's 
Ranch — The Conference - Rev. 0. IV McMams — 
My Report to New Yark — Appointments. 

1879— paeres 304-312. Annual Meeting in Tip- 
tonvi lie— Bishop Merrill — Annual Report— Inci- 
dents— Hymns. 

Fourth Decadk 1880-1890 

"' M<n 1880-1885. * 0 ' 4R ; 

1880— pages 313-328. The Annual Meeting- 
El Abogado Cristiano Commenced — Church Dedi- 
cations at' La Gallina, Silver Cit} ; , Valvefde — The 
General Conference — What the Conference Did — 
What it did not do — What it ought to have done. 



1881— pages 330-347. From Tiptonville to So- 
corro — Christmas tree at Socorro — Editor Killed — 
Obituary. 



CONTENTS 



1882— pages 347-352. Annual Meeting held at 
Albuquerque by Bishop Bowman — Orphan Schools 
—Territorial Industrial Schools — New Mexico in 
Transition. 



1883 — pages 352-355. Bishop Andrews held 
our Mission at Las Vegas- -First Published Min- 
utes—Watch Donated— Division of Mission Asked 
by Superintendent — Appointments. 

1884 — pages 356-368. Ceneral Conference — The 
Work Divided on Petition of the Superintendent, 
Thomas Harwood — Conference held at Socorro by 
Bishop Foss— Special Reports— Historical Society 
— Farewell to the Englishi-peaking part of the 
Mission — Appointments, 



1885— pages 368-376. Rev. S. W, Thornton, 
Superintendent of the English— Rev. Thomas Har- 
wood of the Spanish. 



Chronological — End of Volume I. 



Spanish and English Missions 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE I. 



REV. THOMAS HARWOOD DURING THE 
SIXTIES. 
(By Edgar E. Clough, D.D.) 

Westminster, Cal., Dec. 17, 1907. 
I am glad of the privilege of writing a few things 
concerning my friend, the Rev. Thomas Harwood, 
D.D., whom I have known since 1867. At the 
last session of the Northwest Wisconsin Conference 
held in Sparta in September, 1867. he was appointed 
Preacher in charge of Leon Circuit and thus be- 
came my pastor. A month before that I had been 
licensed to preach and soon after his appointment 
I was requested to preach before him and my Pre- 
siding Elder, a trial sermon (my first regular ser- 
mon), and I cannot forget his sympathy and en- 
couragement and kindly advice to me as a beginner 
in the work of the ministry. During this year he 
was blessed with revivals ; one in Farmers Valley, 
where about a hundred were converted, among them 
my only brother and his wife, who never ceased 
while living to express thanks for that revival. The 
following year, being sent to Chippewa Falls, I at 
once found that Brother Harwood had organized 
that c ocietv ei^ht years before, and that before the 
war he had been pastor in various portions of the 
Valley of the Chippewa, and always much esteemed 
by the people. In 1862, when the 25th Wisconsin 
Infantry was bein?* raised bv Col. M. Montgomery 



~2— 



History of New Mexico 

and Rusk and others, Brother Harwood enlisted as 
a private. He was soon given a Sergeant's Chev- 
rons and honored them. He took the war seriously 
and learned in the school of a soldier its duties, and 
performed them to the delight of officers and men. 

I have often heard Col. J. M. Rusk, later Gov- 
ernor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Agriculture, 
relate the following incident : 

On one of their marches as a Reg't . they sud- 
denly found themselves confronted by a detach- 
ment of Confederate soldiers posted in a piece of 
wood?. The Colonel said : "I detailed two com- 
panies as skirmishers and put them in command of 
a Captain, who was ordered to clean out the woods; 
but instead of driving the enemy the detachment 
was driven back upon the Reg't. As it came back 
pell-mell, Sergeant Harwood, standing by the Col., 
in his quiet way remarked that, "I wished that I 
had been in command of that detachment ; we 
: ►uldn't have been driven back/' The Colonel 
raid, k 'I believe it. Take command of the detach- 
ment, Sergeant. Officers, Sergeant Harwood is in 
command now; clean out that woods." For a few 
minutes the firing was sharp, but it began to grow 
less and more remote, because Sergeant Harwood 
had driven the enemy out of the woods. 

The Colonel said he moved on about a half-mile 
beyond the woods where the command had been 
halted near a barn. u ]ust as I rode up/' said the 
Colonel, "a beautiful lady came out on the porch 
of the house and said, 'Colonel, are those your men 
stationed down by my barn?' Yes, madam, but 



Spanish and English Missions 

you need have no fear for the officer in charge is a 
Methodist preacher. Lifting up her hands in des- 
pair, said : 'My chickens are gone, my chickens are 
gone.' There being a vacancy in the Chaplaincy 
of the Regent," the Colonel said, "that men and 
officers spontaneously petitioned for the appoint- 
ment of Sergeant Harwood to that vacancy." 

From scores of the men and officers of that 
Regiment I have been told of his splendid work 
as chaplain. 

And I know that it has been easier to hold up 
Jesus to the veterans of the 25th Wisconsin because 
r f Chaplain Harwood's beautiful exemplification of 
the Christian life. He was always The Man, The 
Brother, The Patriot and The Christian Gentleman, 
helpful to his brother man in many capacities dur- 
ing that bloody decade of United States history. 
His work in Wisconsin abides after these forty 
years and his wholesome influence in the army is 
fondly cherished by the Veterans of Wisconsin who 
have much desired to see him elected to the National 
Chaplaincy of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

I have rot seen all the copy of this book, but 
judging from what I have seen and what I know 
of its author, I feel that I can most cordially rec- 
ommend it as filling a niche in the history of Meth- 
odism that could not otherwise be filled. 

XOTE II. 



ALIENS OR AMERICANS. 
(By Mrs. Harriett S. Kellogg.) 
The Forward [Mission Study Course given a 



- 4— 

History oj New Mexico 

prominent place to the immigration problem. It 
would be interesting in this connection to turn to 
JNew Mexico and ask the question, "Aliens or Amer- 
icans ?" 

The answer might reverse the viewpoint from 
which we consider foreign immigration; for who. 
after all, have always been Americans? 

The Mexicans or their ancestors have, for untoin 
centuries, occupied this strange corner of our coun- 
try. Here is to be found the remnant of a civili- 
zation cider than tradition. 

The story of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico is 
known full well, yet the motto of the conquerors. 
''For the crown and the Church," seems to icrni:- 
nate the interest of many people concerning this 
race. The question may well be asked : What has 
the Roman Church done for the se people for over 
three centuries? When the beautiful Aztec cities 
were destroyed, did she give the common people 
better architecture — better homes? When their 
rare illuminated books and work of art were burned 
in public bonfires, did she give them libraries and 
cultivate their artistic sense? Did she give them 
la~ds to till for themselves? Did she give them 
public schools and Bibles and an undimmed vision 
of God and his relation to each human soul ? These 
questions may be answered by reading this book, 
which portrays the deplorable condition of these 
people when the first missionaries entered the field. 
Surely its perusal will renew interest in the Spanish 
Mission of New Mexico; and the hardships, sacri- 
fices and triumphs of the missionaries — Dr. Har- 



— b— 

Spanish and English Missions 

wood and wife and others — will inspire the church 
to increased eliort in carrying the gospel to these — 
the first Americans. 

This book is timely, for it will bring the Spanish 
work in America more full}' into the great wave 
of present missionary endeavor and study. 

The author of this book appreciates the above 
mere, from the fact that Mrs. Kellogg wrote the 
beautiful "Life of Mrs. HarwoodA 



XOTE III. 



HOPE REALIZED. 
At last we are to realize our heart's desire. Re- 
peatedly the Xew Mexico-English Mission of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church lias urged the Rev. Dr. 
Thos. Harwood to give us the story of his life. The 
preachers in Xew Mexico could readily see they 
were in a strange land where things unaccountable 
to them had been done. The Southwest is said to 
be the "land of contraries/' where they "dig for 
wood and climb for water, picket pigs and turn 
dogs loose." Fully as strange to the most of us 
are some facts political and ecclesiastical. For in- 
stance : It has passed into a proverb : "Once a Cath- 
olic always a Catholic," and yet here we find 5,000 
Mexicans brought into the Methodist Episcopal church 
through the labors of one man as leader, Dr. Har- 
wood. It is well known that Romanism is always 
hostile to public schools, yet in this Territory, al- 
ways overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, there is im- 
bedded in the law an excellent public school system. 



- 6— 

History oj New Mexico 

that law placed on the statute books by legislatures 
almost so:iclly Catholic, and that too in spite of the 
most Litter opposition of the priesthood. 

Of all fanatics those called passionists seem to 
be the most fanatical. Here we find them under 
the name of Peniterites, with the cross indellibly 
marked in the forehead and deeply scarred bodies 
bearing the marks of self-inflicted scourgings that 
they might be right with God. 

Who but Dr. Harwood can best tell the story of 
one unlearned man, with no preparation except the 
love of God in his heart, when sent to a stronghold 
of these Penitentes ; so preaching the Gospel and 
living the Life that he saw the conversion of about 
all of them and then their morada boueht for a 
Methodist chapel. Nothing mere marvelous has 
been wrought in any mission field. 

How to get a foothold, how to make a start, was 
the question. I count it one of the privileges of 
my life to have been intimately associated with Dr. 
Harwood and his wife. I have lived in the same 
town with them and for considerable periods where 
they had lived in the earlier years of their work, and 
have been in many of. the out of the way place-, 
far from railroad and American influences. So I 
have had unusual opportunity to know what has 
been done and how. 

Without disparaging the Doctor's work this can 
be said : Mrs. Emily J. Harwood made his work 
possible. They were without children to educate. 
Mrs. Harwood saw children all around her, grow- 
ing up without the opportunity to get an education. 



Spanish and English Missions 

She made that her life work and well did she ac- 
complish that work. To this day wherever one goes 
in New Mexico there are found men and women, 
intelligent, refined, who were given their ideals 01 
life and preparation for usefulness in the school ana 
home of Dr. and Mrs. Harwood. It is not given 
to many, who never became a mother, to be such a 
mother to scores and scores of young people. 

There was this peculiar trait in the character of 
Mrs. Harwood that those who knew her cannot 
forget: There never came a time so discouraging 
as to cause her to give up : she always kept right on 
as though everything was prospering, even though 
there seemed to be no hope of success. 

When Rev. Thos. Harwood began his great work 
who could tell where to try to plant churches? The 
railroads with their power to create centeis was yet 
to come. This is little short of miraculous it seems 
to me ; there was no important Mexican center that 
mas missed and very little work was wasted at 
points afterward abandoned. I can think now of 
but one church building left unused in all the Span- 
ish work. 

As I have gone over the field time and again I 
have been unable to point out any serious mistakes 
and say : Dr. Harwood would have done better had 
he pursued another policy. 

In readme this history you will be unable to see 
its marvels if you forget that, when Dr. Harwood 
bega*i his work there were no stewards to look af- 
ter his interests, no parsonage in which to live, no 
church in which to preach and wherever there was 



History of New Mexico 

a christian in name he was presumably an enemy 
to protestantism, yet the Lord could and did turn 
the hearts of the people to the work. Friends were 
raised up, schools were established, churches built, 
christian character created and God's name is glori- 
fied. 

Let all Methodism honor the young bride who 
left friends and civilization that she might give 
her life to a strange people in a strange land. 

All praise to these two heroes of the Cross who 
have clothed the naked, fed the hungry, comforted 
the sorrowing and given to another people songs 
of salvation that shall be wings of faith to Spanish 
hearts wherever the Spanish tongue is found. 

"Yo soy por Cristo." 

A. A. HYDE. 

Los Angeles, October 19, 1907. 

I appreciate the above the more highly because 
it came from the heart of a timed and true friend, 
whose face I shall see no more as he has just been 
called to his reward. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE IV. 



AN ENDURING MONUMENT. 

"If wc work upon marble it will perish ; if upon 
brass time will eface it ; if we rear temples they 
will crumble into dust, but if we work upon mind 
that will endure forever." 

When Sir Christopher Wren, the great English 
architect, died, his friends cast about for a suitable 
monument. Space was limited and words must be 



— 9— 

Spanish and English Missions 

lew. At last one who loved him and was gazing 
reverently at the beauties of St. Paul's Cathedral 
under whose choir the master hand lay so still, hit 
upon these words, and they are carved over the 
inner north doorway: "Si monumentum requiris, 
circumspice. ,, So say we of our friend and brother, 
whose consecration and genius have made this book 
a possibility: "If you ask for his monument, stand 
anywhere in Xew Mexico and 'look about 3^011;' look 
at the gigantic strides made by this mighty em- 
pire territory up into civilization, liberty and light 
You will see, if you look honestly, that among the 
foremost agencies in this uplifting process stand 
Rev. Thomas Harwood and his devoted wife.. No 
history of Xew Mexico can ever be full and 
authentic, and their work be left out. Look around 
you, everywhere, and see. Look yonder in that little 
adobe house. It is a christian home. The little 
mother is training a large family, and sending them 
out into the world, christian men and women. Mrs. 
Harwood trained that mother. In yonder school 
hou-e is a teacher, whose every influence rings true 
for "God and home and native land." The teacher, 
the teaching and its wide-spread influence all are but 
an echo of the educational institutions which our 
friends have fostered and maintained. In that 
church a pastor, in that legislative counsil a law- 
yer, stand firm for truth and justice, because in 
their boyhood Dr. Harwood loved them and trained 
them. We watch from afar the steady march of 
Xew Mexico, and when she takes her place in the 
galaxy of States, we will proudly count up her 



—10— 



History of New Mexico 

beauties^ advantages and resources, and answer 
lovingly when asked who helped most to make it 
so and where is his monument." Read this book 
and look around you, The sixty-six churches, 
chapels and schools which he himself has dedicated 
in this Southwest and the 5,000 souls brought from 
darkness into light in the New Mexico Spanish 
Mission is his monument. 

JOHN F. KELLOGG. 
Dec. 12th, 1907, Campbell, Calif. 

I appreciate the above the more because Airs. 
Kellog, the wife of him who wrote the above, wrote 
the beautiful "Life of Mrs. Harwood." — The 
Author. 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE V. 
For nine years, while Superintendent of the New- 
Mexico English Mission of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, I traveled over much of the ground 
covered by the New Mexico Spanish Mission in 
charge of Rev. Thomas Harwood,D. D. We were 
often together, and I was permitted to preach fre- 
quently (through an interpreter) to his various con- 
gregations. I came in touch with his work in many 
places, finding the impress of his hand on men and 
churches. 

I have never known a man more universally be- 
loved by the people whom he served. I saw the 
work constantly growing wherever I went. It was 
a very difficult field, always requiring great skill 
and constant care, yet he never tired, and his hand 
seemed to be on every part of the field continuously. 



—11— 



Spanish and English Missions 

Often have I heard him tell of the early days of his 
superintendency, back in the seventies; its struggles 
and hardships and privations, and then compare 
them with the later years of increased comforts and 
better modes of travel and enlarged numbers. I 
found him always untiring in his interest in the 
Spanish-American work of the church, the over- 
sight cf which in the great territory covered by the 
New Mexico-Spanish Mission was entrusted to his 
hards. I used to often wonder how he could go on 
year after year for such a long period of time, cov- 
ering far more than a generation, holding in his 
heart the love and respect of both English and 
Spanish, making so few enemies and so many 
friends wherever he went, enduring all kinds of pri- 
vations, bearing all kinds of burdens, being always 
patient and gentle, always true to God and his con- 
victions, guiding the work of the church, crossing 
necessarily the wishes of men yet retaining their 
love, and in the midst of his multiplying cares find 
time to be largely interested in the affairs of the 
country. 

A staunch Grand Army man, 

A true patriot, having the respect and confidence 
of the men in charge of the Territory from the 
Governor down to the lowest public officer. 

His name car not be stricken from the records of 
Mew Mexico without leaving a blank which will 
lr.ar the history of the Territory, whether in matters 
of education or religion or state. 

His broadly laid plans must bear rich fruit in the 
scars to come. 



—12— 



History of New Mexico 

In the volume now proposed the recounting of 
experiences which cannot be repeated by any man 
because of changed conditions, there will be found, 
many evidences of heroism, such as God plants in 
the hearts of pioneers and leaders. May his mantle 
fall on true and loyal shoulders. 

A, P. MORRISON. 

Butte, Mont, 

NOTE VI. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 6th, 1908. 

The history of a country, a church or a com- 
munity is a history of the individuals who made 
the country, church or community possible. 

The history of New Mexico Methodism must be 
very largely the biography of Dr. and Mrs. Har- 
wood. Admirably adapted to the work to be done ; 
throwing themselves into it with utter abandon- 
ment; putting their hands to the plow without even 
a thought of the possibility of even looking back, 
they have accomplished more than they could have 
even dared to dream. Two strong missions, for 
the English Mission no less than the Spanish is the 
result of their labor, mark in large characters the 
efficiency of their service. 

During my five years pastorate of the church 
in Albuquerque the personal association with Dr. 
and Mrs. Harwood was not only a source of the 
greatest pleasure, but of a forceful and abiding in- 
spiration. 

Dr. Harwood's long service as Superintendent 
of the Mission will go down into history as one of 



—13— 



Spanish and English Missions 

the great achievements of the church. If his life 
shall be spared he will do a yet greater work as 
President of Albuquerque College. If the great 
Methodist church shall give him the support to 
which he is entitled and which it is abundantly able 
to give, this last work will be the crowning feature 
of the long and splendid career. 

Xew Mexico is destined to be one of the great 
States of the Union ; Methodism must 1 je one ot 
the great controlling influences in the State ; the 
Methodism of the State must be largely molded by 
the Spanish Mission; and that Methodism muse 
take its stamp from the Albuquerque College. 

A. W. ADKINSON. 
Presiding Elder Los Angeles District. 
Los Angeles, Cal., Feb. 7th, '08. 



XOTE VII. 

I cannot but think that this History of Pioneer 
^Missionary Work in Xew Mexico, by try friend 
Dr. Thomas Hanvood, will create a sensation in 
the reading world. I cannot forget too my own 
part in the responsibility for its publication. For 
during my six years association with Dr. Hanvood 
I frequently heard him relate incidents from his ex- 
perience and as often urged him to give them per- 
manent form, that the world at large might get the 
inspiration that his telling of these incidents gave 
ire. And now that I have had the privilege of 
reading these inspirations set in a connected story, 
I can say that their author is among the fortunate 
few. who can write a storv without losing" the 



—14— 



History of New Mexico 

flavor that goes with its telling, I think T will be 
safe in saying that whoever begins this book will 
read it to the end. Truth is stranger than fiction. 

It is rarely that men have such a combination of 
talents as the author of these annals. As simple 
and unaffected as a child, yet as alert to the world 
problems and as quick to defend truth (and as 
bold in doing it) as a Dr. Buckley; a man whose 
daily life for years has been spent with the poor and 
lowly, yet with a mind well informed on all the 
current questions of Church and State. He finds 
it not difficult to return from praying with a sick 
Mexican child and pick up his pen and write a 
forcible argument in defense of Statehood. I have 
never known a memory more tenacious of details 
than his. You will find in the many narratives with- 
in a quaintness of touch that will suggest Dickers 
himself. A delicate and refined humor, a mosL 
gracious endowment to any man with burdens upon 
him, shines out of the life and writings of Dr. 
Harwood to the delight of all. A first and surface 
acquaintance with the author of this book will im- 
press you with the query, "Is he not too easy-going 
for great administrative work, such as the Church 
has entrusted to him?" But a trip with him over 
his field, into his quarterly conferences, listening to 
his directions and cautions to his men, the evidence - 
of his firmness when need calls for it is not want- 
ing. He never blusters, but no man ever dealt with 
Dr. Harwood for any length of time, and presumed 
that he could swerve him from his convictions of 
right and dut);. . The old colored man's definition 



—15— 



Spanish and English Missions 

of perseverance, quoted from within, applies to the 
founder of our great work among the Mexican 
people. "He took hold, holds on and never lets go." 
To Dr. Harwood his work was truly a mission — 
his mission, his life mission — and this viewpoint 
has given him his coigne of advantage. He cast 
his lot in with the people. Of the other qualities of 
this work I shall not speak in full. It has been 
written with painstaking regard to fact. As you 
will see, many things herein related have cost much 
labor and investigation. Those things that are 
herein set down touching Romanism, you may be 
sure, are true and unprejudiced. The spirit of 
charity and fairness pervades every paragraph. I 
feel sure this is not only a delightful book, but that 
it is a book that will throw light upon many of our 
vexing problems in Mission to Roman Catholic 
countries. May God's blessing be upon it and its 
author. 

CHAS. L. BOVARD, 
Oxford, Ohio, 10, 1, '07. 



EMILY J. HARWOOD. 



Dr. Harwood was peculiarly blessed in the com- 
panion of his life. I have often said Mrs. Har- 
wood was the ideal woman missionary, I met her 
first when I was pastor in Tucson, Arizona. She 
stopped over a few days and visited with us. Her 
unbounded enthusiasm for the Mexican people pre- 
pared the way for my acceptance of the sperinten- 
dencv of our English work when offered to me by 



—16— 



History of New Mexico 

Bishop Mallalieu a few months later. We had so; 
years of most helpful acquaintanceship. Mrs. Har- 
wood was by no means a negative character. She 
had convictions of her own. These did not always 
harmonize with the views of those about her. But 
she was so reasonable, and so surrendered to the 
Holy Spirit that there was never unpleasant friction 
when there was disagreement. Mrs. Harwood was 
truly a mother to the Mexican people. In their 
times of trouble they knew where they could find 
a sympathetic friend. She was ever looking out 
for their interests. She must be given a place on the 
honor roll of great missionaries — along with the 
names of Miss Thoburn, Mrs. David Lee r Mrs. But- 
ler, and the hosts of good women who have given 
their lives for the blessing of mankind. 

CHAS. L. BO YARD. 



Spanish and English Missions 



HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO SPANISH AND 
ENGLISH MISSIONS, FROM 1850 TO 1910. 
IN DECADES. 

BY 

rev. thos. harwood, d. d. 

First Decade. 
1850—1860. 

The writer has often been asked to write up the 
history of the New Mexico Methodist Mission. 

At two different Methodist Conferences of the 
English Mission, by strong resolutions passed by 
the Conference, it was declared that my long labors 
in the mission and acquaintance with the same abun- 
dantly fitted me for the task, and at length, with pen 
in hand, I make my humble bow to the members of 
both the English and Spanish Missions and to the 
Church at large ; and to them pledge myself to do the 
best I can, not forgetting, however, to bow low at the 
foot of the cross of the crucified One for divine guid- 
ance in the responsible task before me. I sincerely 



- 18— 



History of Nczv Mexico 

ask the prayers of my brethren of the mission that 
our kind Heavenly Father may make the task a 
pleasant one for His servant who is rounding* out 
his 50th year in the ministry, his thirty-sixth in this 
mission, and his seventy-sixth in age, that he may 
live to complete the book and that it may be the 
crowning" work of his life. 

o 

SECTION 1. 

The Methodist Missionary work began in New 
Mexico in 1850. In order to understand it more 
fully, the reader must be supplied with a few pre- 
liminaries even before that time. 

New Mexico was visited by the Spaniards, it is 
said, as early as 1537. It became a territory of 
Spain in 1595, and -the Roman Catholics began their 
formal missionary work at that time. Hence they 
have had the right of way in New Mexico for almost 
300 years. They had the entire religious control of 
New Mexico, unmolested by Protestants or Ameri- 
cans for nearly ten generations, up to within a few 
years past. 

What a golden opportunity was this for Roman- 
ism. The so-called infallible pope at their head, the 
crowned heads of Spain and her civil and military 
officials and soldiery, for the most of the time, at her 
back, and a conquered territory at her feet ; with no 
Protestant Bible, or Protestant press or Protestant 
preacher or public school in the way. The priests 
could sow the gospel seed, water it with their tears, 
bask in papal benedictions and reap the golden 
harvest ! 



—19— 

Spanish and English Missions 

Ten generations of sowing and reaping and what 
is tlie harvest? What is New Mexico today? Or 
rather what was it in 1850 when my lesson begins? 
Intellectually, morally and religiously it was one of 
the darkest corners in Christendom. While' the 
inarch of civilization had taken grand strides, almost 
everywhere else, Xew Mexico had fallen behind. 
Why? For want of Bibles, schools and proper in- 
struction. These wanting, there could be but little 
advancement on any lines of material progress. But 
we must not be too severe, since we do not know 
what Xew Mexico might have been without the Ro- 
man Catholic religion. 

The writer speaks whereof he knows, when he 
says, that in 1870, twenty years after his lesson be- 
gins; in all his travels in Xew Mexico, not a public 
school house could be found, hardly a Bible in one 
family in a thousand, and only few other books ; 
hardly a public road or a bridge, only as they had 
been built by the government or the Protestant pio- 
neer; hardly an American plow, wagon or buggy 
could be found. ' 

The ecclesiastical leaders, it seems, had made some 
progress in the introduction of fruits, such as the 
mission grape, apples, pears, peaches and these were 
found to do well, especially the grape, said to be the 
most delicious of any variety yet brought to the 
country, but we are sorry to say that this was per- 
verted to a bad purpose, by both priests and people in 
making it into wine. But so far as we could see, they 
had made but feeble efforts to open the gates of civ- 



-20- 



History of New Mexico 

ilization in our Protestant eastern states, for they pre- 
ferred to go on in their established customs of gath- 
ering- tithes of flocks, tithes of fleeces, tithes of grain, 
administering sacraments at high prices, baptisms 
and the eucharist, and other so-called sacraments, 
such as marriages, extreme unction and prayers for 
the dead at extortionate prices; all of which could 
be practiced only among an ignorant and supersti- 
tious people. Such was the condition of New Mex- 
ico when the writer came in 1869. If such was the 
condition then, what must it have been when we roll 
back the curtain to 1850 when our first missionary, 
the Rev. E. G. Nicholson, came and began his work? 

In 1870, when New Mexico's first census was 
taken, every citizen seemed ashamed of the illiteracy 
of the territory. It showed a fearful state of illit- 
eracy, far worse than any state or territory in the 
Union. Seventy-three and a half per cent of the 
people over ten years of age were unable to read, and 
78/2 unable to write. Of course it was worse 
than that in 1850. Yet we were, told that "these 
are our people, and that the Protestant missionaries 
have no business here." We were not so much 
surprised at this, for it is natural that the shepherds 
look after their flocks, and I must give our Roman 
Catholic brethren, both priests and laymen, credit 
for looking after their own people. 

A few years ago, I spent a Sabbath for the first 
time at Yuma, in Arizona. American preachers and 
others had come in and I was invited to go with 
them Sunday morning to talk to the Mexican pris- 



Spanish and English Missions 

oners in Spanish. Word was sent up the evening' 
before. To the surprise of all, the next morning 
only a few of the Mexicans came to hear us. We 
were informed that the Father had been around and 
left word that those "Mexican prisoners all be- 
longed to him and that we had nothing to do with 
them." Right here I am frank to admit, that a 
priest or minister, who is brave enough to claim a 
whole penitentiary of 225 convicts as his, ready to 
go with them in the cell or on the gallows to per- 
form the last rites of his church, whether it does 
them any eood or not, deserves a worthy consider- 
ation. 

In 1680 the Indians revolted and drove out the 
Spaniards. The Spaniards regained possession of 
New Mexico in 1698. In 1846 General Kearny en- 
tered Xew Mexico and took possession of the terri- 
tory, and in 1848 it was ceded to the United States 
of America. 

In 1850 the Missionary Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church sent out its first missionary. The 
missionary was the Rev. E. G. Nicholson, who with 
his family left Independence, Mo., via stage, and 
reached Santa Fe, Saturday, and preached the fol- 
lowing Sabbath from the text 1st Cor. 2:1-2 "And 
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with ex- 
cellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you 
the testimony of God. For I determined not to 
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
Him crucified." 

Section 2. 



History of New Mexico 

The following is taken from the annual report of 
Dr. Durbin, Missionary Corresponding Secretary, 
1855. Bishop Ames had episcopal supervision. The 
Doctor said : 

"This Mission (New Mexico) was instituted in 
1850 ^by the appointment of the Rev. E. G. Nichol- 
son, who was sent expressly to the population speak- 
ing the English language. Brother Nicholson re- 
turned in the course of a year and reported unfav- 
orably. The mission was then suspended for a year 
or so, until the Rev. Benigno Cardenas, a converted 
Mexican Catholic priest, was brought to the notice 
of the Bishops and Board; as also a young man who 
spoke Spanish. (This was Walter Hansen, -who had 
been connected with the Swedish work in New York. 
These brethren expressed a desire to be sent to New 
Mexico to preach in the Spanish lanoaia°;e to the 
native Roman Catholic population. Accordingly, in 
the year 1853, they were sent with the Rev. E. G. 
Nicholson as superintendent. 

At the end of one year Brother Nicholson and the 
young man returned and reported unfavorably, but 
they left Brother Cardenas in New Mexico preach- 
ing to the people, chiefly in the Rio Grande Valley 
and in the vicinity of Socorro. 

Our Brother Cardenas was alone in the mission 
for a year, and from various reliable sources, we 
were assured that his ministry was the only pro- 
ductive Protestant ministry in the territory; and 
were led to believe that his ministry might lay the 
foundation of a living evangelical church. With a 



Spanish and English Missions 

view to determine how far this impression was war* 
ranted, we sent to Xew Mexico in the summer of 
1355, our Brother, Rev. D. D. Lore, who had just 
returned from South American missionary work 
where he had been for nearly seven years, and spoke 
Spanish very well. He was instructed to examine 
carefully and report to us. His first letters were de- 
cidedly discouraging, and led the Geneial Mission- 
ary Committee at its meeting November last to take 
an incipient step toward closing the mission. Sub- 
sequent reports from Brother Lore are somewhat 
more favorable, but not sufficiently so to warrant 
any well grounded hope of establishing an evengeli- 
cal church in Xew Mexico. Brother Lore will re- 
turn home in the spring to meet his own Conference. 
In the meantime circumstances must determine our 
future course with he^ard to Xew Mexico. But we 
think it proper to put on record the report of Brother 
Lore, as follows : 

L P. Durbix. Cor. Sec. 
Section 3. 
Dr. Lore's Report. 
But before we give any part of Dr. Lore's report 
as written to the Board in 1855, I desire to make 
some extracts from Dr. Durbin's report as given in 
1853, as that will throw light on Dr. Lore's report. 
Dr. Durbin says : "Since the issue of the last Annual 
Report of 1852, we have sent out to the different 
mission fields the persons whose names follow and 
with the places and persons named come Rev. E. G. 
Xicholson, Walter Hansen and Benigno Cardenas to 



—24- 

History of New Mexico 

New Mexico.'' Dr. Durbin then said: "Nearly four 
years ago (1850) a mission was projected at Santa 
Fe, New Mexico ; and the Rev. E. G. Nicholson and 
family were sent out." He says : "Brother Nicholson 
remained in Santa Fe for some time, and a small con- 
gregation collected, composed wholly of Americans 
residing at Santa Fe or connected with the Army. 
Shortly after this the headquarters of the Army were 
moved, and with it the little church went. About 
the same time, Mrs. Nicholson's health failed and 
they returned home and the Mission was sus- 
pended. " 

Dr. Durbin further says : "During the year, after 
Mr. Nicholson's return (1852) the question of es- 
tablishing a Mission among the Spanish-speaking 
people of New Mexico was agitated. While this 
was being considered, two things transpired which 
hastened its resolution in favor of sending out mis- 
sionaries. 

"1. There was a young Brother 'connected with 
the Swedish work in New York who could speak 
Spanish very well. He desired to go to New Mex- 
ico. 

"2. During Mr. Nicholson's residence in Santa 
Fe he had become acquainted with an intelligent, 
well-educated Roman Catholic priest, of much in- 
fluence in the country and eloquent. His name is 
Benigno Cardenas. He expressed dissatisfaction 
with the Roman Catholic Church and with 'the 
Bishop. But Brother Nicholson, fearing it might be 
a matter of a personal quarrel, after considering the 



—25— 



Spanish and English Missions 

case, gave it no encouragement. Shortly thereafter, 
Cardenas left New Mexico for Rome to lay his 
cause before the authorities at Rome," Mr. Durbin 
says that : "He left Rome with all his papers in or- 
der, under seal, as we ourselves have seen and with 
due passport as a Roman Catholic priest, and ar- 
rived in London. His visit to Rome seems to have 
completely opened his eyes and fixed his purpose to 
forsake his communion. He called on Rev. Mr. 
Rule in London who had long been a resident mis- 
sionary in Spain. Mr. Rule took Cardenas into his 
family and for ten weeks carefully observed him and 
instructed him in evangelical doctrines, and gave 
him letters of introduction to our Board at Xew 
York/ 5 

k, On his arrival at Xew York," says Mr. Durbin, 
w we treated him kindly and had much intercourse 
with him through interpreters. Our confidence grew 
slowly but surely, and we put him in communication 
with the Bishops, then reported to the Board. About 
this time Brother Nicholson visited the East at the 
request of Bishop Waugh ; and at the Xew York 
Conference at Kingston, in consultation with Bish- 
ops Janes and Simpson and Brother Nicholson and 
the corresponding secretary. Bishop Waugh deter- 
mined with the consent of the Board to renew the 
Xew Mexico Mission and enlarge its aims so as to 
embrace the Spanish population, should the project 
upon observation in the territory be found practi- 
cable. 

The Board concurred and the Mission was organ- 



—26— 

History of New Mexico 

fzecl by the appointment of Rev. E. G. Nicholson as 
superintendent, and Rev. W. Hansen as assistant. 
At the same time, Brother Nicholson was authorized 
to take along with him Benigno Cardenas, and to re- 
ceive him into the church in the Mission in New T 
Mexico, and employ him as assistant under the 
conditions plainly set forth to him. The main con- 
ditions were, "If Cardenas, after arriving in New 
Mexico, should apply publicly to the Mission for 
admission and service and his spirit and conduct is 
satisfactory to Brother Nicholson, the Superintend- 
ent ; under these condition and arrangement the 
missionaries departed for New Mexico early in the 
autumn of 1853, and arrived safely in Santa Fe in 
due time, (being Nov. 10, 1853). 

Note by the Author — Brother Hansen opened a 
school at Tecolote, but it was soon broken up by the 
interference of the Roman Catholic priests of Santa 
Fe. I received my information about this school 
from W. H. Moore, who had a store at Tecolote at 
that time, and S. B. Watrous, who also resided at 
Tecolote. They informed me that Mr. Hansen had 
a school of some thirty or thirty-five scholars and the 
people were delighted with it until the Bishop and 
priests came down from Santa Fe and in a few days 
after their arrival the school had to close for want of 
scholars. 

Up to the present we have quoted from the sec- 
retary's reports ; Dr. Durbin and a few of my own 
notes and inferences. I had long desired to have 
something direct from these early missionaries. I 



Spanish and English Missions 

thought that some of these reports might be easy of 
access in the office in New York, but to get at them 
was the question. I had asked for a few items of 
those early days, but in vain. In some of my corre- 
spondence in 1894 with Chaplain McCabe, D.D., at 
that time Corresponding Secretary, now Bishop, he 
happened to make the remark that an old school- 
chum of mine in 1855, in Evanston Theological 
School, wished to be remembered, and gave his 
name as Rev. J. C. Thomas, Librarian in the Histor- 
ical Society of the Missionary Society. I at once 
wrote him and told him what I wanted. He looked 
over the reports and found considerable information 
such as he thought I might want, but said he had 
no right to send the reports out of the office. I pre- 
vailed upon him and promised that they should be 
used carefully, and returned to him promptly so 
soon as I had copied what I wanted, which I did. 
This is the history and the secret of the valuable in- 
formation I am giving in this story. I need not sav 
that the most of this information is new to the 
reader, but I know it will interest profoundly all the 
wide awake members of this mission, both Ameri- 
cans and Mexicans, But what about the missionaries 
themselves ; have you anything ? Yes, a letter from 
Rev. Mr. Nicholson : 

Section 4. 
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nov. 19, 1853. 
To Rev. J. P. Durbin, D.D., Missionary Correspond- 
ing Secretary, New York. 

Dear Sir: — We reached Santa Fe, November 10th, 



—28— 
History of New Mexico 

and after resting a little 1 write you. 

"Cardenas is to preach his first discourse as a 
Protestant tomorrow, on the public square, under 
the portal of the Palace. The friends of the Bishop 
are quite excited about it. They have torn down 
my primed notices of the meeting and some persons 
think we will be pelted with stones if we attempt to 
hold services on the plaza. I'm the 'die is east.' No 
building can be obtained; the plaza is public ground; 
the governor does not object to our standing so near 
to his palace, and as the Constitution of the United 
States and God's Word grant us freedom of speech 
we intend to express out sentiments and offer up 
prayer on the plaza tomorrow, though priests rage 
and stones fly as thick as hail about us. 

•'The Bishop denounced Cardenas from the pulpit 
last Sabbath. He told the people they must not hear 
him or look at him as he was an apostate and his 
very looks might contaminate them. He said he did 
not object to them hearing- the other gentlemen, as 
they had been brought up Protestants. He knew 
that neither of us could use the tongue of the people 
as Cardenas can, but he required them under penalty 
of excommunication not to hear Cardenas and to 
refuse him admission into their houses. 

"Respectfully, E. G. Nicholson" 

(Second Letter from Mr. Nicholson.) 

Santa Fe, Xew Mexico, November 20th, 1853. 

This has been a day of much interest to the Pro- 
testants of this city. We had fixed on the hour of 
eleven o'clock for our services on the plaza, intending 



-29— 

Spanish and English Missions 

to begin as soon as the services at the Bishop's chapel 
should be over ; but the Bishop prolonged his ser- 
vices and at the close he denounced Cardenas again, 
appealing to their superstitious feelings and warned 
them not to hear him nor even to look at him, but to 
stop their cars, avert their faces and go immediately 
home. Then the bells were made to keep up a clatter 
till long after the Bishop, priests and nuns had 
crossed the plaza and entered their homes. But it 
would not go. Their attempts to interrupt our ser- 
vices and prevent a free man of being heard by a 
few of the people excited indignation. The people 
who had listened to the Bishop lounged about the 
chapel for a long time ; many went to their homes 
without looking at Cardenas ; some came under the 
portal of the palace ; others came forward and filled 
the seats ; others squatted on the ground and a great 
many gathered in groups about the plaza within 
hearing distance of the preacher. Cardenas spoke 
with great force and clearness. He had the un- 
broken attention of the people and uttered his rea- 
sons for renouncing the dogmas and legends of 
Rome and embracing the faith and worship of Pro- 
testants in a most noble and touching manner. 

The subject of his discourse was "Repentance and 
Justification of Man." The sermon was Catholic and 
Apostolic in its sentiments, well suited for the occa- 
sion, and its illustrations were marked by simplicity 
and propriety that made it captivating and singular- 
ly interesting to all present. 

At the c.ose of the service, Cardenas announced 



—30- 



History of New Mexico 

me to the people as the Rev. Superintendent of the 
Methodist Mission in New Mexico ; and after un- 
folding and explaining his parchment and letters of 
ordination and character, as a presbyter or priest in 
the Church of Rome, and missionary apostolic to 
New Mexico, he placed them- one by one, in my 
hands, expressing as he did so a desire to be con- 
nected with our Mission and to be authorized to offi- 
ciate a.3 a minister anions us. I have his papers in 
my possession, and should nothing occur to change 
the good opinion I have formed of him, I will em- 
ploy him in this field and issue a certificate of his 
position among us. His conduct in public and pri- 
vate since we have been together has been blameless, 
and such as becomes a servant of God. We pray 
twice a day in all the families where we stay; and we 
never omit to ask God's blessing at the table and to 
return thanks for our food. We rise early and spend 
some time in reading* the Spanish version of the 
Vulgate. Then we visit families who are willing 
to be visited by us. Wherever we go his theme is 
religion, the religion of Jesus, the only true 
Catholic religion found in the gospel of Christ. 

"The next day, Monday, I administered baptism 
in the Senate Chamber, to the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Spencer. The sponsers were Spaniards, repu- 
table and influential members of the Roman Catholic 
Church. They said the Bishop had required them 
to make satisfaction to the church within fifteen 
days or he would excommunicate them. I do not 
think they will submit, Resp, E. G. Nicholson/' 



Spanish and English Missions 

Thus ends these exceedingly interesting letters 
from Mr. Nicholson. It is like a voice from the 
dead. "Though dead, he yet speaketh." And as 
this is all we shall have from this our first missionary 
in New Mexico, and so far back in the unwritten 
history of our work, we desire, before we proceed 
further, to make a few comments : 

1. Mr. Nicholson must have been a good man 
for this Mission, prudent and practical, for it seems 
he was very careful and cautious in the employment 
of the ex-priest. 

2. He must have been a man of more than usual 
ability, judging from his correspondence. 

3. He must have been "a good mafi, full of faith 
and the Holy Ghost/' judging from his visiting 
from house to house and praying with the families. 

4. He must have been energetic and studious, 
judging from his early rising and study of the 
Sacred Word. 

5. He must have been a brave man, judging from 
his preaching on the public square and risking the 
threats made by the people. 

6. If he. lacked anything it must have been in 
his staying qualities, judging from the fact of his 
twice returning to the States in so short a time and 
giving up the work. Perseverance, as the old col- 
lored man defined it, "Lay hold, hold on and neber 
let go," is an important quality in the make-up of a 
missionary. Could he have held on, it is not unlike- 
ly that this Mission would be far in advance of what 
it is todav. At about the time our Mission was 



—32 - 



History of Nezv Mexico 

opened at Santa Fe, other denominations also en- 
tered the field, the Baptist and Presbyterion. Revs, 
Messrs. Reed, Gorman, Shaw and Smith were all 
here in the early fifties, and seems at first they made 
Santa Fe their headquarters. New Missionary in- 
terest was also awakened in New Mexico by the 
Roman Catholic Church at about this time. July 
19, 1850, Pope Pius IX. made New Mexico a Vicar- 
iate Apostolic, and on the 23rd of the same month, 
appointed for it as Vicar Apostolic, with the title of 
Bishop of Agathonica, the Rev. John D. Lamy, in 
partibus, from the diocese of Cincinnati. Bishop 
Lamy reached Santa Fe in the summer of 1851. On 
his arrival in* Santa Fe the Bishop found that the 
priests in New Mexico had received no communica- 
tion from their ordinary about any change of admin- 
istration. Neither had the Bishop of Durango who 
had jurisdiction over New Mexico received any no- 
tification concerning the change. This was a great 
disappointment to Bishop Lamy, and it caused him 
to make a trip overland many hundred miles t,o Du- 
rango, to confer with the Bishop of that place. The 
parish priest at that time was the Rev. Mr. Lujan, 
who invited a new priest, whom Bishop Lamy 
brought with him from Ohio for the missions of 
New Mexico, to sing mass on the following Sunday, 
and tried to address the congregation after the 
priest had introduced him not at all very warmly. 
He was not understood, of course, not speaking the 
language of the country and a question arose among 
the people on the plaza, after mass, as to what re- 



Spanish and English Missions. 

liglon the stranger might belong. "He must be a 
Jew or a Protestant" said some of them. "Quien 
sabe?" (Who knows?) inquired others. Still he 
said mass in Latin and but few understood it, and 
what difference did it make? At last a woman who 
-had stepped forward and heard the dispute amorrg" 
the people, asked : "What reason have you to be per- 
plexed about the religion of this man? Did he not 
give a proof that he is a Catholic by the way he made 
the sign of the cross before giving his sermon?" 
This settled the question and removed all suspicion 
in regard to the religion of the new priest who was 
Joseph Machebeuf. "Other priests came with the 
Bishop to Xew Mexico, whose names have long been 
familiar to the writer of this book. The most of 
them, however, including the Bishop, have passed 
away. 

For further information about this Mission we 
must go to the records at Xew York again. Di; 
Durbin, in his report for 1855, writes as follows: 

"The Church is aware that we have made two at- 
tempts at considerable expense and toil to establish 
a Mission in New Mexico. All that remains of these 
efforts are the residence and the active preaching of 
"Rev. Benigno Cardenas, a native of New Mexico, 
'and for many years an accredited and influential 
Roman Catholic priest. We have given the history 
of his conviction and conversion to Protestanism and 
his connection with our Mission. It is a matter of 
gteat thankfulness to God that he has been faithful 



-24- 

Mistory of New Mexico 

to 1 lis great spiritual enlightenment and charge, ami 
has become, as we truly believe,, a genuine evengeh- 
cal Christian. All our private information from 
New Mexico attests this,, as well as the work he is 
doing. But lie is alone, and earnestly appeals tons 
to send him a superintendent and an assistant. The 
Bishop is using his best endeavors to grant his re- 
quest. Who will give his life to this work and make 
the New Mexico Mission the great and only enter 
prise of his life, keeping clear of all worldly schemes 
and becoming an apostle to the Spanish population, 
of the territory? It is a work worthy of a great and 
devoted souL Such a man to superintend, to 1 
preach in English, and in due time to establish 
schools while he would guide and assist the Rev, 
Benigno Cardenas in his great work among the 
Spanish would leave his living, an illuminated mark- 
on the page of the history of the Church and of the 
present territory and the future State of New 
Mexio >. 

Our venerable Brother Cardenas; though some- 
what advanced in years; yet travels from town to 
town, dispensing the Word of God by public preach- 
ing, showing the errors of Romanism and pointing 
to "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world/' In this work his life has been perilled, he 
has been shot at, and is everywhere threatened by 
the fanatical multitudes, and publicly denounced by 
the Roman Catholic Bishop; but God preserves him 
and we must sustain him. 



—35— 

Spanish and English Missions? 

The latest letters we have had from him are dated 
at Santa Fe, December 25 and 26, 1854. He had 
seen the publication in the States over the signatures 
of Revs. Messrs. Read and Gorman, Baptist Mis- 
sionaries in New Mexico, in which they stated that 
they expected to baptize "el padre'' Benigno Carde- 
nas on the 24th of September. Upon seeing these 
printed statements Cardenas writes: 

"I am surprised at the conduct of Mr. Read in 
publishing his base supposition as facts; thus abus- 
ing my generosity and the candor and the confidence 
of my congregation. I have resolved from this mo- 
ment to withdraw my friendship from him, and also 
from Mr. Gorman: although we had agreed to act 
as one in preaching the gospel without interference 
with each other's views. It is thev that are blamea- 
ble." 

"As a specimen of what he is doing,'' says the 
Corresponding Secretary, "we make the following 
extracts from his letter of December 25th, 1854." 
Mr. Cardenas says : 

"I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of 
Rev. D. Terry's letter, as also a check of $200, and 
a notice of Spanish books to arrive. I wish the 
books were here working their legitimate effects in 
this unhappy land, even though the bishops and 
priests may burn them as well as the Bibles, because 
they are brought here by Protestants. They have 
found arguments insufficient to sustain their impost- 
ure, and would thus keep the minds of their unhappy 



History of New Mexico 



people wrapped in ignorance. Such are these am- 
bitious priests whose sole aim is personal and tempo- 
ral advantage, who have the people believe that their 
frivolous forms constitute the true religion. Every 
day new conversions appear, but as yet many do not 
declare themselves for fear, notwithstanding their 
conduct makes a favorable impression on the side of 
Protestantism, and is the means of their refusing to 
pay tithes, bishop's fees and other dues in spite of 
threatened excommunication and spiritual penal- 
ties." 

The following is taken from a letter from Brothe/ 
Cardenas bearing date at Santa Fe at about the 
same time, December 24th, 1854. He says : 

"On the 24th of October, 1854, I preached in 
Tome, and the people were convinced that I preach- 
ed the truth, and only the truth. Also in Socorro, 
November 17th, to a large congregation of people, 
who afterwards gathered in groups to discuss the 
matter. The next day in the plaza I preached on 
Romanism and Protestantism. In Algodones T 
preached three times and founded a society of twen- 
ty persons, with hopes of more joining them. On 
the 24th, I preached in Santa Fe to a large congre- 
gation of Mexicans and Americans, and numbers 
were convinced of the errors of Romanisn. The 
Bishop declaimed against me, but none took any 
heed except the old Viejas' (old women) and them 
he flatered. 

"Respectfully Benigno Cardenas. 99 



Spanish and English Missions, 

Section 5. 
1 Dr. D, D, Lore's Leter) 
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nov. 26th, 1855. 
To the Corresponding Secretary Mission Society, 
New York, 

Dear Brother: On Sabbath, November nth, 
1855, I administered the Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper to our little church in Socorro. I \Vas alone 
in the administration of the ordinance; Rev. Benig- 
no Cardenas being at another place. There were 
Seven communicants present, four males and three 
females, two were absent. We have a class here of 
nine persons, which I have organized as the begin- 
ning of the Church of Christians in this place. I have 
no doubt of the piety and acceptance in Christ of 
those thus united together. It is true that they are 
but "babes in Christ Jesus" and need the sincere 
milk of the Word that they may grow thereby. An- 
other man had given us his name as a Christian, but 
with further acquaintance I had reason to doubt his 
Stability and before the communion I saw him as the 
hell ringer and in a Romish procession. It is very 
difficult for the old man (he is about 80 years of 
age) to cast off the toils of superstition that have 
been so Ions: entwining themselves around him. I 
have not received him among us, but the brethren 
will labor with him, and endeavor to lead him into 
'the way of truth. Our communion season was a 
very precious one. The presence of the Lord was 
felt in a vary special manner. All seemed conscience 



—38— 

History of New Mexico 

of the divine approbation, it never was more so on 
any similar occasion. We felt that we were brethren 
in Christ. Our eyes overflowing with tears of joy. 
Our hearts melted, mingled and cemented together 
in one at the foot of the cross. It was good to be 
there. Could you have been with us, your heart 
would have caught the flame. We may say in the 
language of Peter, 'The Holy Ghost fell upon them 
as upon us at the beginning." In addition to our us- 
ual service, I added the reading of the Command- 
ments and the Apostle's Creed. This was my first 
communion with Mexican Methodists. 

On the following Sabbath, the 18th of November, 
I purposed to have administered the same ordinance 
to the brethren at Peralta; but being unavoidably 
detained on the road, I did not reach there to spend 
the Sabbath. Monday, the 19th, was spent there, 
and I would have administered the Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper at night, but three of the principal 
brethren were absent, consequently it was deferred. 
I organized a class, appointing, as at Socorro, one 
of their number as leader. The class in Peralta 
consists of fourteen, seven males and seven females. 
There is no reason to doubt as to their earnestness 
and sincerity. They have a good man for their lead- 
er, Ambrosio Gonzales, and there is much to hope 
for from them. These are the only two classes that 
can be organized at present. There is not sufficient 
material at any other points. At Belen there are two 
persons professing religion and to be Methodists, 



K Sp<ntisli . and English Missions. 

two also at Jarales, and four at Polvadera, making 
ogto besides those placed in classes, in all thirty-one 
persons ; -twenty-three in classes and eight not. 

I have organized a circuit consisting of four prin- 
cipal and monthly appointments, viz; Peralta, Jar- 
ales, Polvadera and Socorro. The distance from 
one extreme to the other of this circuit is about sixty 
miles and includes a large population. There is not-, 
perhaps, an equal amount of population-, within the 
same distance, any other portion of the -territory. 
The nearest appointment to Santa Fe is about ninety 
miles. The tour appointments are so arranged that 
the}' can be filled in three Sabbaths, leaving one free 
for extra service as occasion serves. The localities 
selected, I think the most promising of any others, 
Within its bounds an impression has been made to 
some extent and some actual results have been real- 
ized. Indeed all who call themselves of us are in- 
cluded within its limits; and it is a portion of the 
valley of the Rio Grande that the the greatest nat- 
ural advantages. As I passed on my way here, 
Santa Fe. through Jarales, the residence of Brother 
Cardenas. I found him confined to his bed with an at- 
tack of rheumatism. I reached Santa Fe on the 
22nd instant, having heen absent since last August. 

During this time I have visited all that part of the 
valley of the Rio Grande del Norte lying between 
this point and the "Jornado del Muerto," some two 
hundred miles, selecting the locality for onr mis- 
sionary operations, as stated in the previous port i of 



History of New Mexico 

of this letter. Besides visiting the Mexican: towns- 
in the valley, I also spent sometime in one of the In- 
dian villages, in order to obtain some knowledge of 
their, character and conditions and the prospect for 
missions among them,. These Indians are called: 
"Pueblos," because of their living in towns, a name 
given to them, I presume, by the Spaniards, who 
found them thus living when they discovered the 
country. The general opinion is that the Indians 
were gathered into these communities under Spanish- 
influence. This is a mistake. The history of their 
towns is lost in antiquity. Of these Indian pueblos or 
.'rnvns there are twenty-two in number, having a- 
population of from eight to ten thousand. They live 
By cultivating the soil and raising flocks and herds., 
depending very little on the chase. They are all 
professedly Romanists. They have beads and cross- 
es and idols and are occasionally visited by priests : 
their Romanism, however, sits very loosely; their 
prejudices and superstitions are all in favor of their 
ancient heathenism. I was decidedly impressed that 
the character and condition of these Indians were 
favorable for missionary effort. They are establish- 
ed in towns and already partly civilized, many of 
them sneak in the Spanish language. There is but 
one missionary set apart as yet for the pueblos. He 
is a Baptist brother, located at Laguna (Mr. Gor- 
man") and his mission nromises well. The towns are 
widely scattered and they have some half dozen dif- 
ferent dialects, if not languages; consequently there 



—41 — 

Spanish and English Missions'. 

h room for several more laborers. It is very desira- 
i le that our government should make an appropria- 
tion for schools among these Indians. They require 
p.o annuity; they are above that; but if the govern- 
ment could help them in education and mechanical 
arts, it would confer a great benefit and blessing, and 
the church that would take hold of these pueblos 
with a strong hand, we have no doubt would be the 
instrument under God of Christianizing them. 
Yours truly, 

D. D. Lore." 
(Remarks by the Author) 
That the reader may not be left to wonder how 
these brethren lived and were sustained physically, 
the following may indicate that the great and gener- 



ous Methodist Episcopal Church did not send her 
missionaries out here to starve: 
1855 

Feb. — Paid bill of freight .%2yy.yi 

Mch. — Paid Rev: B. Cardenas by Dr. Terry 250.00 

Anr. — Paid D. D. Lore, first quarter 387.50 

May — Paid Am. Tract Soc. for D. D. Lore. 22.50 

Tune — Paid D. D. Lore 463.35 

Tune — Paid S. Hallott's bill 27.02 

fiily — Paid bill of stationery 17.00 

fnjy — p p j r i \) \) Lore, draft 55° °° 

Aug;. — Paid Benigno Cardenas 50.00 

Sent. — Paid D. D. Lore loo.oa 

Oct.— Paid D. D. Lore 287.50 

Nov. — Paid D. D. Lore, draft 400.00 



—42— 



History of New Mexico 
Dec— -Paid D. D. Lore . 387.50 

Total $3,020.18 

We have been greedy for the history of the early 
work and experiences of the first workers in this 
mission. That may account somewhat for prolong- 
ing the history of this first decade from 1 850-1860. 
for giving the expense accounts as above. 

But to the writer, every word is interesting. He 
can hardly hope that the reader will take as much 
interest in reading this history as he has in gather- 
ing it up and writing it These early heroic mis- 
sionaries had many trials, privations, hardships, per- 
secutions, almost to death; as the writer has heard 
for the last thirty-eight years, traveling over the 
same ground and visiting in some of the same fam- 
ilies where those missionaries went. 

The writer has probably gathered all from the 
archives from New York that can ever be found in 
relation to the early work in this, at that time, far 
off field, and will now draw a few inferences and 
add a few other items that have been gathered from 
the people. 

1. It seems like a pity that the work was not 
continued. It was commenced in 1850 by Mr. Nich- 
olson at great expense, moving so far across the 
plains, and the next year he returned home and the 
work w r as suspended for awhile. The next year he 
returned with Mr. Hansen and the ex-priest, and 
the following year they returned, leaving Mr. Car- 



—43— 

Spanish and hnglish Missions. 

clenas alone in the held. In 1855, Dr. Lore came, 
found Mr. Cardenas sick, organized the work at So- 
corro and Peralta, formed a circuit consisting of one 
of the best populated portions of the territory, and it 
all looked hopeful, judging from the Doctor's re- 
port, but still it was suspended and nothing more 
(lone for many years. Mr. Cardenas ought to have 
been sustained. What could he do? Called out 
from Romanism, made a target for priests and peo- 
ple and then left unsustained. The fact that the 
Baptists wanted him and said in the public prints 
that they were going to immerse him, is evidence 
that he was all right up to that time, September 25, 
1854, when they had announced that he would be 
baptized. 

2. It seems that in receiving members. Dr. Lore 
received them without being baptized again, just as 
we do, as they make no reference to baptizing their 
converts at Socorro or Peralta. 

3. It seems that in baptizing the children, the 
parents were permitted to have sponsers, as we do. 
I have always thought this a very nice thing, -espec- 
ially in this country, though the Church makes no 
provision for such. When a neighbor and his wife 
or any friend or friends to the parents are willing to 
step in and assume the responsibility, in case the 
child should be left in need by the death of the par- 
ents or otherwise, that the sponsers promise to do all 
for the child that the parents have promised to do 
is surely a very nice thing, and has often worked well 



—44— 
History of New Mexico 

among the people in this country. 

4. It seems that the ex-priest, Father Cardenas, 
was received into the ministry on his Roman Catho- 
lic credentials. On the occasion of his first sermon 
in Santa Fe, November 20th ; 1853, after preaching, 
he introduced to the congregation the superintend- 
ent. Rev. Mr. Nicholson, and expressed a desire to 
be connected with our mission and to be authorized 
to officiate as a minister among us; at the same time 
h Hiding his Roman Catholic parchments or papers 
over to the Superintendent. Mr. Nicholson had 
Said, "Should nothing occur to change my good opin- 
ion I have formed of him, I will employ him in this 
mission and issue a certificate of his position among 
us.'" He was afterwards employed and worked for 
some time on a salary and did much good. In fact 
the entire success of our work in New Mexico, so 
fir as I can see, up to the time that Dr. Lore came 
was through Mr. Cardenas' preaching. It is thought 
Out here that he did the work that only an ordained 
preacher could do, such as baptizing the children, etc. 

5. We do not think it was proper to have taken 
Mr. Cardenas into the ministry on his Roman Cath- 
olic parchments because the priesthood in the Roman 
Catholic Church is so very different from an Evan- 
gelical ministry. We have only had one case of a 
Roman Catholic priest coming to us since I have 
been Superintendent of the Mission. He was re- 
quired to take the obligations of a minister the same 
as any other and the same as if he had not been a 



—45— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

Roman priest. Our Board of Bishops now all coin- 
cide with that method. 

6. It is found that Brother Nicholson had some 
warm friends in Santa Fe and at other places. At 
Santa Fe he presented a large family Bible to Hon. 
Samuel Ellison, Secretary of State. I had the book 
in my possession, and have presented it to the Albu- 
querque College Library. I have heard Mr. Ellison 
speak very highly of the Rev. Mr. Nicholson. I 
think Mr. Ellison was a Protestant when he came to 
New Mexico, but he married a native woman and 
they all were Catholics. I am acquainted with the 
family, and they seem like very nice people. 

7. Mr. Nicholson also left a Bible with Don Am- 
brosio Gonzales at Peralta. I think it was 1853. Ho 
spent a few days w r ith the family of Don Ambrosio. 
I had the Bible in my possession, and think it is in 
the Albuquerque College Library. Bro. Ambrosio 
once gave me quite a full history of that Bible. 1 
asked Don Ambrosio when he became a Protestant? 
In answer to the question lie s^ave me the following 
interesting story: " Brother Nicholson, the Method- 
ist minister, came down from Santa Fe and spent a 
few days at my house, and gave me this Bible. It 
w as the first Bible of any kind I had ever seen. T 
think it was in 1853. The book was a charm to m^, 
When the rest retired, I sat up and read the good 
book. I read nearlv the whole book of Genesis. I 
then turned to the New Testament and read several 
chapters in Saint John. One chapter was the four- 



—46— 
History of New Mexico 

ieenth — "Let not your heart be troubled, etc/ — it 
was to me a new book. I read until the chickens 
were crowing for day. I laid down on a lounge in 
the same room and soon fell asleep. When I woke 
the sun was shining through the window into my 
face. The Sun of Righteousness was shining bright- 
ly in my soul. I have been a Christian and a Pro- 
testant ever since/* said he. Brother Ambrosio has 
long since passed away. But he was always a decided 
Christian, and became a strong and faithful minister 
of the Gospel. Brother Nicholson, I presume, died 
before he knew anything of the interest clinging 4 
around the Peralta Bible. That was the starting 
point of the Protestant work in Peralta, if not in the 
entire territory. Brother Ambrosio always said that 
he was the first Protestant Mexican in New Mexico. 
I believe he was. He was not certain about the year, 
but thought it was in 1853. I am inclined to think 
it was earlier than that, probably Some time in 1852. 

It would seem that the class at Socorro was or- 
ganized by Dr. Lore before the one at Peralta, but 
Bro. Ambrosio was appointed leader of the class at 
Peralta, and kept it up so that when I came down in 
1 87 1, about sixteen years after the class was organ- 
ized, I found Bro. Ambrosio faithful to his trust. 
He not only was class leader, but preacher, and his 
work had grown, and I reorganized the work with 
forty-two members. This was October, 1871. I 
found no other organization in any other place in 
New Mexico where the Mexican people held religious 



—47— 

Spanish and English Missions', 

services. In 1873 I made an extensive travel through 
New Mexico, visiting Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Fort 
Stanton, Las Cruces, Silver City, El Paso, Palomas, 
San Marcial, Socorro, Limitar, Polvadera, Belen, 
Peralta and Albuquerque. I organized a small class 
at Palomas, Socorro, and visited again Peralta, but 
found no organization, or that religious services were 
being held at any other place except Peralta. i 
found that the old adobe church at Santa Fe, said to 
have been built and dedicated by the Baptists in 
1854, but afterwards sold to the Presbyterians, but I 
found no Mexican members in Santa Fe of any Pro- 
testant church. I found also at Socorro an old 
adobe, dirt floor, flat roof church, said to have been 
built by the Baptists, unfinished, but the people said 
it had not been occupied for a long time, if ever at 
all. Rev. J. M. Shaw, a Baptist minister, who came 
to New Mexico early in the fifties, on whose land the 
church was built, deeded it to the Presbyterians, 
somewhere about 1880, who fitted it up and have 
since occupied it. 

8. Perhaps T ought here to state that the Baptists 
have claimed to have come to New Mexico before 
any other denomination, and early had done all the 
work among the Mexicans that had been done. I 
have never been able to gather much history about 
the other churches, only as I have gathered it from 
the people, and that is not always reliable as hardly 
two men will remember the same thing alike. It 
seems, however, that Mr. Read came with the Armv 



—48— 
History of New Mexico 

in 1849. Revs. Messrs. Gorman and Smith in 1850. 
And Mr. Shaw in 1850 or 1851. Also the Presby- 
terians sent out a man at about the same time. The 
above information I gather from scraps of history 
and from the people. I have no doubt they all did as 
well as they could under the circumstances. Rev, 
Mr. Shaw told me in 1873, when I first visited So- 
corro, where he lived, that all their preachers that 
were in the New Mexico work when the civil war 
broke out, were recalled. Mr. Gorman established 
his work among the pueblo Indians at Laguna, and 
had a store among them. Mr. Read was active, bur 
strange and only spent a part of his time in New 
Mexico. 

9. I once met Dr. D, D. Lore at Denver at the 
Colorado Conference. He was delighted to hear that 
the Spanish work in New Mexico had been resumed. 
He remembered distinctly his visits at Socorro and 
Peralta and his organizing the classes at those 
places, and especially at Peralta with Brother Am- 
brosio Gonzales as leader. 

10. I corresponded with Dr. Durbin, Missionary 
Corresponding Secretary, after I came down here. 
He was also delighted that the Spanish work in New 
Mexico had been resumed, but expressed the thought 
that the soil is sterile. 

11. Rev. B. F. Crary, D. D., was present at one 
of the anniversaries at New York, February 4-6. 
1855. He was then a young man. Dr. Lore was 
present at that meeting and had just returned from 



—49 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 

South America. It was just before Dr. Lore came 
out to New Mexico. Dr. Crary led the devotional 
exercises at one of those meetings and made a 
speech. It was at this time he fell in love with the 
Spanish work in which he always showed much in- 
terest and always seemed pleased with my reports at 
the Colorado Conference while he was a member of 
said Conference. Father Dyer was also a strong" 
friend of the Spanish work, and took great interest 
in it as long as he lived. Bishop Walden also, when 
he was agent for the Methodist Book Concern, at- 
tended the Colorado Conference in 1870, and heard 
my report of the Spanish work and dates his interest 
in the same at that time, and has always been a 
strong friend to the Spanish work since that time. 
Also Rev. J. M. Reid, D. D., in his valuable book on 
"'Missions and the Missionary Society," Vol. 1, page 
qo, gives quite a review of those early missionaries. 
He says also that "Dr. Lore when he was sent out to 
New Mexico to inspect the Spanish work, reported 
unfavorably and Cardenas proving himself un- 
worthv and false, the Mission was permitted to ex- 
pire"' 



—50— 

History of New Mexico 



SECOND DECADE. 
i860-. 1 870. 
Section L 

As we unfold the pages leading into the second, 
decade of this volume, we find our country plunging 
into one of the most terrible wars of the ages — a war 
with our brothers of the South — family quarrel — a 
family war — the war of the Southern Rebellion. 

It looked for awhile as if this war might change 
the name and map of this glorious Republic. A war 
that tried men's souls. Brother was compelled to go 
to war with brother; father with son and son with 
father; for the dividing lines were not only along 
state lines, but through states and counties, and 
neighborhoods, and families, and houses. 

Mrs. Kellogg, in her beautiful "Life of Mrs. E. T- 
Harwood/' page 9, says; "It is impossible for tht 
younger generation to comprehend the mental con- 
flict of the nation during the first months of the war. 
The firing of fifty guns into Ft. Sumpter, shook the 
country like the eruption of a vast volcano, and 
above the din and smoke was heard the call of Abra- 



-Si— 

'Spanish and English -Missions* 

tram Lincoln for volunteers." -She then quotes Mrs. 
Livermore as saying: ""The North rose as one man. 
The drum and fife filled the air, drowning -even the 
Church bell. The plow was left in the furrow, the 
carpenter forsook his bench, the lawyer his clients. 
Even -some clergymen transformed their pulpits in- 
to recruiting stations, and with the Stars and Stripes 
above them, preached the gospel of pardon for the 
black man and patriotism for all. 

The above graphically introduces the subject of 
' r lie war with the South which stirred the nation to 
its utmost limits, and was far reaching in its results, 
"and New Mexico felt its shock. 

With respect to the war, I am glad to be able to 
say that the most of our people were loyal to our 
p/o-ernment. This by the South was not expected. 
When General Sibly came into New Mexico by way 
of El Paso with a large force of Confederates, he 
expected that all New Mexico would join him. 
When he found that the people would not join him, 
and he met his inglorious defeat at Pigeon's Ranch, 
between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, and he was com- 
pelled to retreat from New Mexico with his broken 
columns, it must have been extremely humiliating to 
him, to his troops and his cause. Some of the Mexican 
people went with him into Texas and a few others 
into Mexico : but the great mass of the people re- 
mained and many of the braver ones enlisted as sol- 
diers and home guards to defend the government, 
s5nd showed a loyalty that was surprising 'to the gov- 



— 

History of New Mexim 

ernment itself. Many of those who left never re- 
turned, Those who remained were treated well by, 
our government officials and others and were gener- 
ally the trusted men after the war. I am glad to be 
able to say that our earliest converts to our Church 
were found among those who had been the most loy al- 
to our government. We have had in our New Mex- 
ico Spanish ministry three Mexican members of the 
Grand Army of the Republic and three Americans, 
making six in all, a showing that no other mission,, 
the. size of this, can make, so far as we know. 

The war was a drain, not only upon: the able- 
bodied men of the country, but upon the money re- 
sources, and probably no channel felt the drain more: 
severely than the missionary societies, and under this 
drain and general demoralization of the country the 
Baptists withdrew their missionaries from the terri- 
tory. 

When I first met the Rev. J. M. Shaw, at Socorro, 
in 1873, he told me that the Baptists had recalled 
their missionaries at the opening of the war. He 
said they all obeyed the call except himself. He 
said, "I was not in a condition to return, and there- 
fore remained, and engaged in other employments, 
and am now a lawyer/' 

Mr. Shaw had had a small congregation at Socor- 
ro, and perhaps at other points earlier in his minis- 
try, but when I made my first visit to Socorro, in 
1873, he had no congregation and had not preached 
for a long time. He welcomed me with pleasure and 



-33- 



^SpdMisJi and English Missions, 

^advised the few who had been members of *his 
Church, to unite with -us in our organization. The 
^eighty year old man of whom Dr. Lore speaks in his 
organization in 1855, was Santos Telles (see page 
.37, First Decade), It is with great pleasure I state 
here that Father Santos Telles wa^ a faithful mem- 
ber with us until his death which took place in 1887 
; ! t the advanced age of 102 years. He told me when 
J organized the work at Socorro, that he wanted to 
unite with us. He said he was first of all a Method- 
ist, and when the Methodist left the fields he had 
joined the Baptists. "And now that the Baptists had 
left and the Methodist have come back, I will come 
'back afeo to my own Church," 

I organized the Church at Socorro, October 28, 
1S73. and Father Telles was one of the first mem- 
"hers of a class of twelve, and was appointed class- 
leader and afterwards was made a local preacher. 
Section II. 

That the Church appreciated the importance n£ 
tthis field may be inferred by a statement made by 

Dr. J. P. Durbin. Missionary Secretary, New York, 

which may be found on page 34 in Decade One. 

The Doctor asked in writing about a suoerintefid - 
ent for the mission: "Who will give his life to this 
work, and make the New Mexico Mission the great 

and only enterprise of his life, keeping clear of afl 
-worldly schemes and become the apostle of the 
Spanish population of that territory? It is a work 
I ^vortliy of "a great jantl devoted soul. Such mail t : ' 



— 54— 

History of New Mexico 

superintend, to preach,, to establish churches and': 
schools would leave his living, an illuminated mark- 
on the page, of the history of the Church, and of the 
present* territory and the future state of New Mex- 
ico." No one,, it seems r has ever answered to the 
Doctor's call. The writer of this book at that time,., 
more, than fifty years ago, was about preaching his 
first sermon. His - soul was full, of missionary zeal,, 
but had never thought of New Mexico as his future 
field of labor. He remembers a little of the early 
missionary work in New Mexico, but had never 
heard of Dr. Durbin; so far as he remembers. He 
does not claim to be the apostle of the Spanish- 
speaking people, but thinks he has "kept clear from 
worldly schemes/' and' has at this writing given 
nearly thirty-seven years of his life to this work r 
preaching" in English and Spanish, establishin^ 
churches and schools among the people of New 
Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Chihuahua and 
Sonora. He was forty years old when he came to 
New Mexico, too old to be caught by " wild-cat 
schemes'' of speculations, and wise enough to know 
that he who said "All these things will I give thee, 
if thou wilt fall down and worship me," didn't 
own a thing worth having in all this world. Some 
one has wisely said that the Lord will have a tried 
people, a prepared people, prepared workers and pre- 
pared leaders. It may be then that my early years 
of struggle on the farm, and my earlv years of strug- 
gle for an education, and my five years of teaching in 



Spanish and English Missions, 

the East, and then as many in the W est, interspersed 
with land surveying on the frontier, often where the 
Chippewas and Sioux were numerous, with several 
years' preaching* as a local preacher as well as in the 
regular work, eighteen months a soldier in the ranks 
of the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteers, and 
•eighteen months as chaplain of the same noble regi- 
ment, and then three years more in the active work 
of th ministry in the West Wisconsin Conference, 
with Mrs. Harwood's experience as a teacher helpei 
to tit us for this work in New Mexico. I am sure it 
has. Whether the Lord so intended it, I will leave 
for the reader to judge for himself. If my almost 
fort}' years in this mission has been a success, I owe 
it largely to the first forty years of providential ex- 
periences and especially to the three years of army 
life and to the wise and energetic missionary help 
by Mrs. Harwood. To the above, I wish to include, 
of course, the guiding Hand of Him who said, "Lo, 
T am with thee alwavs, even unto the end of the 
world." 

Section III. 
In New Mexico. 
In 1868 I was asked by Bishop Ames to go to 
New Mexico. In 1869 was transferred by Bishop 
Scott and came, reaching La Junta, as it was then 
called, and preached my first sermon in the house of 
W. B. Tipton, the last Sunday of October, 1869. 
Text: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His 
righteous." (Matthew 6:33.) Father J. L. Dyer, 



--56— 

History of New Mexico 



presiding elder of New Mexico district, was with 
me. I had known him in Wisconsin. We preached 
together there at different places : Menominie, Chip- 
pewa City, Chippewa Falls, camp meetings, etc. It 
was he who had asked Bishop Ames to transfer me 
to this field. The following, from the "Life of Mrs. 
E. J. Harwood," pages 22-25, indicate how I 
came to be appointed to this, at that time, far-off 
mission field. 

"At the Conference of 1868, West Wisconsin, 
Bishop Ames presiding, said in the open Conference 
that he had a letter from the Rev. J. L. Dyer, stating 
the great needs of New Mexico for Protestant mis- 
sionaries and teachers. He closed the letter by urg- 
ing th Bishop to send Dr. and Mrs. Harwood, know- 
ing well their superior qualifications for such work/' 
Dr. Harwood says : "We were not ready to decide 
such an important question at that time, but during 
the next conference year concluded that if we were 
still wanted, we would go. Consequently at the next 
conference, which was held at Portage, they were 
transferred by Bishop Scott to the Colorado Con- 
ference, and appointed to La Junta, New Mexico; 
New Mexico at that time being a district in the Col- 
orado Conference, and Father Dyer was its presid- 
ing elder. 

At first, Mrs. Harwood was very much opposed to 
going to New Mexico. As a student and teacher, 
she knew much about the savage Indian tribes of 
the West and Southwest, and so did I, at least of the 



— 5 4 — 



Spanish and English Missions. 

Chippawas and Sioux of Northwestern Wisconsin. 
It was in Minnesota, I did my first soldiering after 
the treacherous, blood-thirsty Sioux. It is no won- 
der Mrs. Harwood feared those savage Apaches of 
the Southwest. But to her the voice of duty was 
strong, and she concluded to go, so after the trans- 
fer was made at the Portage Conference, we wert 
soon on our way to our distant field. 

We spent our last night in Wisconsin in I. a 
Crosse at the home of Rev. and Mrs. I. E. Springer, 
and I baptized their only son, Durant. who has 
been for many years professor in the Michigan State 
University. 

We came by the way of Quincy, 111.; Carrolltou, 
Mo., where we visited my sister, Elizabeth Ford, 
whom I had not seen for many years : thence to 
Kansas City, where I left Mrs. Harwood. to visit 
some relatives while I went on to Sheridan, far out 
in Kansas, the terminus, at that time, of the Union 
Pacific Railroad; thence by stage via Trinidad where 
I spent the Sabbath with the Rev. E. J. Rice and 
family; thence on via Red River, Cimarron, Rayado, 
Ocate. Fort Union to La Junta, now Tiptonville, the 
place of my destination. 

When the stage halted in front of the store of 
Col. W. B. Tipton, I soon heard a familiar voice, 
from the only man in all New Mexico whom I knew 
at that time, saying; "Come out of there Brother 
Harwood, I know you are there." It was my old 
friend and brother in the ministry. Father Dyer. He 



—58— 
Hi 'story of Neiv Mex/ro 

• uid Col. Tipton had set up until past midnight 
waiting for the arrival of the stage. They both 
seemed delighted to see me. I was also delighted to 
meet my old ministerial friend and brother whom I 
knew so well in Wisconsin. It had been a long, 
cold, tedious, journey , and to say that I was tired 
did not half express it; so I retired as soon as they 
would let me, but was up quite early next morning 
to look out upon a part of what was to be my parish. 
Like many other Americans coming into this 
strange country, thought I could comprehend it at a 
glance, but soon found that I had not yet learned 
the a, b, c's of this strange and interesting missionary 
field. 

Father Dyer, the presiding elder, who resided at 
Santa Fe, had come down on horse-back about a 
hundred miles to meet me. He spent about two 
weeks with me. He was active, energetic and ag- 
gressive. We lost HO' time. We secured another 
horse and rode over the country up and down the 
valleys of the Mora and Sapello Rivers, visiting all 
the Americans we could find and some natives, and 
while they were the most mixed people, politically, 
religiously, morally and socially with whom I had 
ever met, they treated us nicely and seemed glad to 
see us and to have us pray in their families, and to 
know that we were going to establish schools and 
preaching appointments among them. We had meet- 
ings several times Sundays and week days not only 
hi the valley known as Fa Junta Valley, but also 



—59— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

eight miles down the river at Cherry Valley. The? 
people not only seemed glad to see us, but often in- 
sisted strongly for us to pass the night with them, 
and almost without exception invited us to hold re- 
ligious services with them. Such whole-souled hospi- 
tality we had hardly ever seen, and notwithstanding 
the mixed condition of things and had the Roman 
C&tholic priests kept away, I believe a strong church 
could have been organized the first winter we were 
there. 

As Father Dyer was soon to leave for Santa Fe, I 
asked him to give me the metes and bounds of xnv 
circuit. Father Dyer replied: "The first thing for 
you to do will be to secure a horse, for your circuit 
will be large." Col. W. B. Tipton, hearing that re- 
mark, said: "I have plenty of ponies, and will 
loan Brother Hanvood one. He can have his pick 
among a dozen or more of my ponies, and he may 
use the pony as long as he wants it J' When the 
pony was brought out. Father Dyer said : "Now, if 
you had a bridle and saddle, you would be ready for 
your work, wouldn't you?'' At this, James John- 
son, of Cherry Valley, said: "I will furnish the sad- 
dle," and Joseph Wntrous, a pioneer merchant at 
Watrous, said: 'Til furnish the bridle." And so, al- 
most quicker than I am writing the story, I was fit- 
ted out for my work bv those whole-souled frontiers- 
men. 

"Well, Father Dver." said I, "where is my field 
of labor?" He replied, "Get your pony shod, then 



History of New Mexico 

start out northward via Fort Union, Ocate, Eliza- 
bethtown, Cimarron, Vermejo and Red River until 
you meet a Methodist preacher coming this way, 
then come back on some other road and rest up a lit- 
tle ; thence go south via Las Vegas, etc., until you 
meet another Methodist preacher coming this way.; 
thence home again and rest ! a little ; thence westward 
and eastward until you meet other Methodist preach- 
ers coming this way. All this will be your work." 
So I saw at once that I had a big field. 

Of course, the pony must be shod, so I went to the 
nearest blacksmith, who by the way was a very talk- 
rtive American. He told me all about his early life 
from his youth up. His father was a Methodist 
class-leader, and he was brought up, as he said to 
"'toe the mark." "But," said he, "I ran away from 
home, drifted into different places, and finally came 
but to this 'God-forsaken country/ and have become 
what they call a "tough case/ " He had been drink- 
ing, but kept nailing away, and soon the pony was 
shod, and I knew it was a good job. I took my poc- 
ket-book out to pay him, but he said : "Oh, no ; I 
know I am a hard case, but not hard enough m 
charge a Methodist preacher anything for shoeing 
his horse, for if they are as poor as they were when 
they used to come to father's house back in Illinois, 
they never have a dollar to spare." 

Father Dyer and I separated, he to return to 
Santa Fe, and I to start on :my first real missionary 
trip. 



Spanish and English Missions* 

Section IV. 
First Missionary Trip. 

I left Tiptonville, November 12, 1869, for Ocate, 
hy way of Fort Union, and passed the night at the 
house of the Hon. Charles Williams; thence over a 
spur of the Rocky Mountains via Black Lakes to 
Elizabethtown where I preached on the Sunday of 
the 14th of November, both morning and night, to 
small congregations. 

I found a shed for the pony, bought grain at one 
place and hay at another, paying a big price, and 
carried the hay in bundles on my back. I slept on a 
soft pine board cot, with a few blankets under roe 
and a few over me supplemented by my overcoat,, 
and for such luxury, in the morning paid a dollar, 
It was a cold night, for nights in the mountains are 
always cool and always cold in the winter. The cold- 
nights and colder hearts and frozen hospitality at 
high prices; all in such cold contrast with the whole- 
souled hospitality at La Junta and the amiable peo- 
ple of Wisconsin still lingering in my memory, made 
me feel a little tinge of homesickness. Next day 
came six miles down to Mr. Pascoe's where I spent 
the night, with religious services. It was a very 
laree family. A widower with a large number of 
children, and a widow with about the same number 
had been married back East, and were raising quite 
a number of younger ones, and they were all girls 
and too numerous to count. Mrs. Harwood and X 
often visited them after that, and they all became 



—62— 
History of Xezv Mexico 

life-long friends. I also visited Willow Creek, close 
to Elizahethtown, where I made the acquaintance of 
Harvey VVhitehill and family and others who also 
became life-long friends. Thence down to Cimar- 
ron, where I spent the night at a hotel with Hon. A> 
J. Calhoun. I found him very skeptical, and his wife 
a spiritualist, but they treated me well, but the 
chances for religious services were very poor. I also 
found a Mr. Rinehart, whose wife had been a mem- 
ber of our Church back in Pennsylvania. After this 
I often stopped with the aforesaid Mr. Calhoun, 
The}' were very generous and would not accept any- 
thing for entertainment. I once stopped at his place 
at Ocate with Bishop Simpson. We had prayer at 
night and they seemed to enjoy it very much, but 
Air. Calhoun tried very hard to enforce his strange, 
iiotions upon the Bishop, but the Bishop was very 
tired, having rode thirty miles that day and was not 
much disposed to argue the case with our skeptical 
landlord. In the morning they were all busy, and I 
said to the Bishop: "I guess we will have to hitch 
up and go on without prayers this morning." The 
Eishop- smiled and said: "All right, I guess it would 
not do that fellow much good anyway, would it?* 
Mr. Calhoun after that served one term in the legis- 
lature. Did good service as a legislator. Still later 
in life he became a decided Christian, led a consistent 
life and died in the same faith. 

The seventeenth went on as far as Red River 
Station. It was a cold day and one of the windiest 



-63~ 



Spcuiish and English Missions. 

clays I had ever experienced. I met with the same 
generous hospitality that I had met at La Junta and 
Cimarron. Supper, lodging, breakfast and horse 
feed and no charge. Slept in a cold, cheerless, flat- 
roofed, adobe house, and dreamed dreams such Neb- 
achadnezzar never dreamed, but had no Daniel tc 
interpret them. 

1 he eighteenth was Thanksgiving Day, and thirty • 
miles over the Raton Divide brought me to Trinidad, 
where I expected to meet Mrs, Harwood, who had 
been left at Kansas City to visit some friends. The 
midnight stage arrived, but Mrs. Harwood was noc 
With it. f v ent down to Rev. E. J. Rice's house, 
whose acquaintance I made on my way down, to vis- 
it them and to attend their prayer meeting. I met 
Mr. Rice, who took me into another room, and 
pretty soon some ladies came to the prayer meeting, 
i i whom Mr. Rice said there would be no prayer 

eetin<^ that- night as Mrs. Rice was about to be 
sick. The next day I learned that a boy babe had 
been born, who is now known as E. J. Rice, after 
the name of his father. We could hardly expect 
him to be as good a man as his father, since the first 
act of his life was to break up a prayer meeting. He 
is a fine fellow, however, and I had the pleasure of 
visiting him just yesterday, December 9th, at Trini- 
dad, on my way to Clayton. His father, after serv- 
ing the Church faithfully at Trinidad, died quite a 
while ago, but his mother lived many years a faith- 
ful Christian woman and died strong in the faith 



—64- 
History of New Mexico 

last year. At Trinidad they were preparing to cele- 
brate the 36th anniversary of the church organiza- 
tion. Their preacher. Rev. Mr. Kimball, had writ- 
ten me inquiring about some dates regarding their 
early organization, and I stopped off to give them 
the proper information. 

But two days' waiting did not bring Mrs. Har- 
wood. The train from Kansas City to its terminus. 
Sheridan, had failed to make time. I had my 
work laid out for the approaching Sunday, so had to 
leave for Vermejo so as to be there Saturday night. 
I arranged for Mrs. Harwood to' stop ofif at Trini- 
dad, at which place she reached Saturday night at 
midnight. She called to see Mr. and Mrs. Rice, as 
I had suggested, and they became life-long friends. 
I preached at Cimarroncito Sunday morning at 10 
o'clock and at 2 130 at Sweet Water and at Ocate at 
night, making forty-five miles and three sermons 
that day, a very hard day's work. Mrs. Harwood 
arrived the next day on the stage at about midnight 
at Tiptonville, as it is now called, and became the 
guests of W. B. Tipton and family. We both felt 
that we were far from home, in a strange land, a 
strange looking people, but we both were cheerful. 

The people seemed delighted to see us and to be 
assured of a school and misionary work. They 
seemed however, to be much more concerned about 
the school than about the preaching, as they had 
been anticipating her arrival for some time. 

\ T ot being able to secure a home in which to live 



Spanish and English Missions. 



and for school and church in La Junta Valley, on in- 
vitation by Mr. James and Mrs. Johnson, I had se- 
sured a place at Cherry Valley, and in a few days 
we were there in a comfortable building in which to 
live, and Mr, Johnson had turned his chickens out 
to roost on the sagebrush for a short time and had 
fixed up his hen-house, an adobe, dirt floor, flat- 
roof, but the inside neatly whitewashed and the day 
school was opened and soon had about thirty schol- 
ars, and the second Sunday after the day school was 
opened the Sunday school was organized and preach- 
ing services held. We had about twenty-five Sun- 
day school scholars, Americans and Mexicans. 

Years after this the question arose as to who 
opened the first Sunday school in New Mexico. I 
staled the time when and the place where we opened 
our Cherry Valley school, and if no one else could 
show that he had a school earlier than the above 
named, we should claim that we were first. At anv 
rate we think that we have a right to crozv as ours 
was opened in a hen-house. 

Christmas day was a lonesome day to us, as we 
had not the opportunity of having the Christmas day 
service, but being- invited to spend the day at Mr. 
and Mrs. W. B. Tipton's, where we had already 
spent two weeks on our arrival, without any ex- 
pense, we accepted the invitation and spent a part of 
die Christmas holidays there. 

While there, in the afternoon, we saw a strange 
procession coming of a few Mexican women and 



--6b— 
History fo NewMexico 

children. They came right into the parlor as if they I 
had a perfect right and celebrated some of the 
scenes of the birth of the Saviour. They had a lit- 
tle wooden image that looked like a boy-doll. They 
had it in a little cradle, which was intended to rep- 
resent the manger in which the Saviour was laid. ] 
They formed a circle, marched around the cradle in 
different ways, singing, occupying, I would think, | 
about a half an hour. The lady leader then took the 
babe out of the cradle or manger, she passed it 
around and they all kissed the babe, until they came 
to us, and because we refused to kiss it, thinking ijj 
savored too much of idolatry, they seemed very an- 
gry, gibbering away in Spanish which we did no! 
at that time understand. When all was over they 
\ook collection and we redeemed ourselves by 
throwing in a little change. 

Section V. 

Incidents. 

On my trip to Trinidad, as I said before, I spent 
the night with the Hon. Cbas. Williams. He was arj 
inveterate talker. Found fault with the churches 
and the government for having so long neglected thi| 
people in New Mexico. He said the government 
had never given them a school or aided the people in 
any way, neither had the churches. And he said it 
was all wrong. "Nov/ the Methodist Church has sent 
you here as a missionary who can't speak a word ol 
Spanish and even if you could it would do the Mex- 
ican people no good, for they are Roman Catholics. 



Spanish and English Missions. 



and you can never make anything more of then). 
You might just as well go down and preach to those 
telegraph poles." And so the conversation ran. He 
had been a soldier in the Mexican war under Gen- 
eral Kearney. At the close of the war, liking New 
Mexico well, he married a Mexican woman and 
raised quite a family. We talked his Roman Catho- 
ic wife and children tired, they disappeared and af- 
ter quite a late hour, Don Carlos, as the Mexican 
people called him, said, "Elder, you are sleepy, you 
>leep there and I will sleep here," pointing to a 
couch. So I turned and kneeled to say my prayers 
as my mother had taught me. Don Carlos slapped 
me on the shoulder with his hand and said, "Elder, 
pray out loud," which I did with much pleasure to 
myself. I think the Lord was in that prayer, and I 
think Don Carlos was converted, if not to be a 
Christian, at least to cease to oppose Protestant ef- 
forts, and was ever afterward a strong friend. 

Incident 2. Next morning, crossing the prairie, 
on my way to Elizabethtown. via Black Lakes, I 
-aw the finest meteor I had ever seen. It looked as 
large as the moon right in daylight. It was almost 
as bright as the sun. It seemed so near, I wondered 
why I did not hear it strike the earth. I galloped 
across the prairie, half a mile or more, looking for 
it. I expected it would set the prairie afire. I spent 
-everal hours, I think, but found no traces of it. 

Incident 3. I spent so much time looking for the 
meteor it was getting late when I got up among the 



-68— 



History fo New Mexico 

foothills, the trails being very poorly traveled, and J 
began to fear that I might not be able to make Blac!> 
Lakes before dark, and as the Indians, wolves anc 
Rocky Mountain lions, etc., were very common and 
dangerous. I began to think of turning back and 
spending the night with my old friend again. But 
pushed on until I met a Mexican on a burro (don- 
key). I asked him in English. "Is this the road to; 
Elizabethtown ?" He didn't understand a word oJ 
English, nor I a word of Spanish. So I gave it ual 
and concluded to go back and spend the night with I 
Mr. Williams and have him teach me enough Span- 
ish to ask the question, "Is this the road to Eliza- 
bethtown?" or anywhere else I might want to go. 
He laughed heartily and treated me very kindly. 
After supper, by a blazing fire in a fireplace, I said. 
"Now let's have that lesson in Spanish." "Alright," 
he said, "Write it down as I pronounce it; don't ask 
me. to spell it as I have never studied Spanish only 
from the people." So I said "is" and he said "es" 
and I \Yrote it e-s. "esA I then said "this" and he sstia 
"este," and I spelled it e-s-t-e. "este." I said "road" 
and he said "camino." I said "to" and he said "a" 
with a point over the a. I said Elizabethtown and 
lie said the same. "Now," said he, "read it." And 
I read it, "Es este el camino a Elizabethtown?" 

I was anxious to get started the next morning so 
as to meet a Mexican to try my Spanish. It wa| 
not long before I found myself meeting a Mexican 
coming on a burro. As we were meeting, I said : 



Spa ?i is h and English Missions. 

Scnor, cs este el camino a Elizabethtown?" and he 
aid Soior." I was very much elated over the 
iiought that 1 knew Spanish enough to ask that 
iiiestion, and asked it probably more than twenty 
imes before I got back from Trinidad to La Junta, 
ust before I got to Fort Union, close to La Junta, 
found myself overtaking a man on foot. I said: 
\Senor, es este el camino a Fort Union?" He said, 
4 Lawd, man, you will have to talk English to me, 
1 doe> not understand the language of dis country." 
le was a colored soldier. Suffice it to say I reached 
lack Lakes just before sunset. There was only one 
. mse in sight at the Lakes, and only one room and 
;o or three families, seventeen in all, occupying i;, 
ind I preached that night to sixteen people, one was 
tbsent. The next day took dinner at a house at a 
x>int where the roads forked, one to Taos and the 
•ther to Elizabethftown. The man was an American, 
tit Mexican family. I had some thought of staying 
ill night as I was very tired, but the man seemed 
5d friendly and so anxious for me to stay that I be- 
£*an to mistrust that he was not alright. They told 
ir at Elizabethtown that it was well I did not pass 
lie night there. That quite a few had stopped there 
ind had never been heard from since. Time passed 
n, the same man gcrt into trouble, he was lynched, 
ne of the doctors claimed the skull and had it on 
k xhibition, and I was in the office of one of the doc- 
>rs, and he explained the Dhysiological and phreno- 
ogical features of the skull. I inquired who it was. 



—70— 

History o f New Mexico 

and when he told me, I remarked that it was at li - 
house I came near spending the night on my first 
trip to Elizabethtown. The doctor said : "It was 
well I didn't, for it might have been the last of 
you, for after the man was lynched, the woman with 
whom he had been living, told us that if we would 
take up their floor and dig, we would find the bodies 
of some men/' They did so, and found the bodies of 
three men that had been buried under the floor. 
When I reached home I found I had traveled about 
four hundred miles, had preached eleven times, to 
sixty-eight different people. I said, "Eleven into 
sixty-eight goes six times and two over,'* and I said 
to myself, and perhaps to Mrs. Harwood : "If we 
had remained in our beautiful Wisconsin, I could 
have had an appreciative congregation of perhaps 
two or three hundred people without the four hun- 
dred miles horseback ride or the efforts to gather the 
people together for worship," and had a little tinge of 
homesickness again, but had nobody to blame but 
myself, but could not upbraid myself, for I felt that 
the Lord had sent us to this field. 

But I could not well help asking myself, "Whv 
am There? What can I do?" A hundred thousand 
people whose language, religion and customs are just 
as foreign as if they were in a foreign land. But 1 
said to mvself that the average Mexican is just as 
ignorant of the true Bible relieion as I am of his lan- 
o-uafe. and so we started in trusting in Him who 
Wh siM "T,o. T am with thee always unto the end of 
the world." 



—71 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 



THIRD DECADE. 
1 870 1 880. 
Chapter I. 

1870 — During the year 1870 I traveled over a 
portion of New Mexico and Colorado, making about 
ten thousand miles in all. I had been compelled to 
camp out and stop in many houses much of the time 
and learned much about the Mexican people, how 
they lived, how they did and many of their customs. 

New Year Day, 1870, A Ride to Fort Union--- 
From early childhood, Watchnight Meetings and 
Xew Year days have always been special occasions, 
and have nearly always been spent with appropriate 
religious services ; but the close of the year 1869 we 
failed to watch the old year out and the new year in, 
but the' night was not without pleasant thoughts of 
other years. We thought of Watchnight Meetings 
and Christmas day greetings as we used to spend 
them in boyhood days and in our beautiful Wis- 
consin. The first day of the year was Monday, 
The sunday previous we observed as New Year 
day, and I had an appointment at Fort Union, 
twelve miles away, and Mrs. Harwood wanted to go 
with me. I was pleased with the thought, for it is 



—72— 

History of New Mexico 

always hard for one to lead his own singing, do all 
his own praying and preaching, and I knew that she 
would be a great help, especially in the singing, 
and in addition to all that she wanted to see more 
of the country, and I thought the ride would do her 
good. I told her she could ride my pony, which by 
the way had become as gentle as a lamb, and in 
galloping, was almost as easy as the rocking of a 
cradle, and I would ride another not quite so gen- 
tle. Soon we were out galloping over the plains, 
twelve miles without a house to Fort Union. 

"Life of Mrs. E. J. Harwood" from which we 
quote page 38, as follows: — "Dr. Harwood had op- 
ened an appointment at Fort Union, w 7 hich at that 
time was the largest military post in the Southwest, 
containing a large garrison of soldiers. On Decem- 
ber 31, 1869, being Sunday and the day before New 
Year's day, and he having an appointment at Fore 
Union, thought they would hold New Year's ser- 
vices at that place. Mrs. Harwood, who had learned 
to ride, wished to accompany him. so he procured 
another pony and saddle for himself and let her ride 
his gentle pony, and so they started bright and ear- 
ly across the prairie to the fort. Although it was 
mid-winter, the morning was as soft and balmy as 
a day in May. Mrs. Harwood's was swift and gal- 
loped a little ahead until they came to an arroyo or 
natural ditch cut through the plain by water during 
the rainy season, here a large herd of antelopes were 
feeding on the gramma grass in the valley ; as the 



—73- 

Spanish and English Missions. 

frightened animals bounded away, her pony whirled 
to follow them, as did also the one Mr. Harwood 
was riding. They were Mexican ponies, trained by 
the cow-boys to herd and "round up" cattle, and k 
took great effort on the part of their present riders 
to restrain them from "rounding up ' a herd of an- 
telopes, instead of going soberly on to Church ser- 
vices. 

The Post Chapel was given to the pastor for these 
services,, as the congregation was composed almost 
entirely of soldiers and their families. On this oc- 
casion, as usual, Mrs. Harwood led the singing. Her 
husband says concerning this : "As usual, the sing- 
ing was very highly complimented, but not much 
was said about the sermon ; but before we left, one 
poor soldier came up and said, 'Mr. Harwood, I 
made up my mind while you were preaching, that I 
would change my way of living, and to begin, I 
want to tell you that my woman and I are not mar- 
ried ; she is a Mexican and a Catholic, but is real 
nice, and she will not object to a Protestant mar- 
riage ; so I want you to come up soon and marry us/ 
This pleased Mrs. Harwood more than praise for 
herself, and was a proof that 'My word shall nor 
return unto me void, saith the Lord/ 

"Having found from the officer in command thai 
it was a genuine case, the ceremony w r as afterwards 
performed that made them man and wife, and a 
great wrong, so characteristic in the territory in the 
early days, was made right." 



—74— 
History of New Mexico 

The Congregation. — The congregation consisted 
wholly of soldiers. There were at that time at the 
fort about six companies and probably about twenty 
officers, and quite a number of them had their fam- 
ilies with them, and a few of the soldiers had their 
families, and a few civilians at that time lived at the 
fort; people enough to have made a fair congrega- 
tion, but it is wonderful how quickly people will get 
out of the habit of going to church out on the fron- 
tier where they have or had at that time so little 
church service. It was painfully impressive how 
scarce the officers, their wives and children, made 
themselves at church that day. I felt like taking it 
to heart very much, as I had been chaplain of the 
noble Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteers in the 
late Civil War, and had such a kind feeling toward 
officers and soldiers. Mrs. Harwood also felt it I 
also felt worse on her account, as she was probably 
the equal, if not superior, intellectually, to most of 
the women at that post, and as she had the courage 
to come so. far to attend the services. 

I presume the word sent out about the singing, 
probably coupled with the heroism of the mission- 
ary's wife, who had come so far on horseback to 
attend the meeting, that we generally had good con- 
gregations after that, with quite a sprinkling ot 
women and children, and often a few officers. 

Diary in Spanish. — For dates, details and special- 
ties, I shall be under the necessity of consulting my 
diary, and now turn to my book for [870, and copy; 



Spanish and English Missions, 



La Junta, New Mexico, Limes, Enero i, 1870— 
which translated, means January 1st, 1870 — The 
first year in New Mexico I kept my diary mostly in 
Spanish, so that I could have the practice. I now 
often laugh at my many mistakes in my early Span- 
ish, but it was a nice thing to do, as it gave practice 
in writing as well as in speaking. I would heartily 
recommend this course to others, especially to trav- 
elers among Spanish-speaking people. 

It looks funny to me now, after more than a third 
of a century's study of the beautiful Spanish lan- 
guage, to see how I tortured the language in trying 
to write, much of it just by the sound of the word- 
as the Mexican people expressed them. I soon, how- 
ever, found a Spanish grammar and dictionary, and 
then got along much better. 

On Xew Year day, 1870, I wrote down a few re- 
flections expressing thanks for what had already 
been done and the hope for what, by divine help, 
must be done. I also wrote the following, which I 
think' must be a quotation : "If we work upon mar- 
ble, it will perish: if upon brass, time will efface 
it. If we rear temples, they will crumble into dusr ; 
but if we work upon mind, that will endure forever." 

The thoughts couched in the above lines are en- 
couraging, as they apply to this Spanish work, for 
there is so much to be done. 

I find from my diary, that from October 24, 
r86o, to the close of said month, I had traveled 340 
miles; in November, 400: in December, 340; in 



—76— 
Histo?y of New Mexico 

January, 1870, 475 ; in February, 240; and to March 
20, 235 miles, making in all up to March 20, 1870, 
2,040 miles. Of course, with so much travel on 
horseback, right in the dead of winter, I had not 
much time at home, but aimed to spend two Sun- 
days of each month at home, and in the neighbor- 
hoods of La Junta, Cherry Valley, Watrous and 
Fort Union ; generally preaching at these places 
while at home, as I called it. For where Mrs. Har- 
v\ ood was it was surely my home. As I look back 
now more than thirty-six years, I wonder at my in- 
dustry and heroism in facing the cold mountain air 
on such long and dangerous rides, so much from 
home, when no one told me to do it. 

Sunday School. — The Sunday School at Cherry 
Valley, which Mrs. Harwood managed in my ab- 
sence, was intensely interesting. In fact I am not 
sure that I have ever seen children more interested 
in Sunday school or day school than they were at 
this place. It was all new to them, and the Bible les- 
sons and Bible stories seemed like a charm, not only 
to the children, but to the parents and some of the 
older people. What a terrible thing is religious pre- 
judice. Had it not been for the Roman Catholic 
priests who afterwards came into the neighborhood 
and Roman Catholic prejudices and a few other ad- 
verse influences, how different that neighborhood 
might be today. 

Serious Reflections. — What can I do, a lone mis- 
sionary, in this vast field, unacquainted with the lan- 



Spanish ana English Missions. 



guage and customs of the people, except a few Am- 
erican men, and they nearly all married to Mexican 
women, apparently going hack into the dark ages, 
morally and religiously, what can we do? I am 
almost the only republican in the neighborhood. 
Mrs. Harwood and I, so far as we can see. are the 
only ones who dare speak a word against Sabbath 
breaking, intemperance, gambling, or the dance. 
.Mixed marriages and no marriages seem to be large- 
ly the custom of the country, so far as the most of 
the American men with whom we have met are con- 
cerned. Hardly two families in the whole neigh- 
borhood can agree on any one thing. The Americans 
had come from the different sections of the country 
with their different notions of religion, education, 
morality, etc.. and there was only one thing* upon 
which it seemed that the people could unite, and 
that was a school in their midst, and even in that it 
required much patience and effort and aggression 
upon the part of the missionary and his wife to 
bring the people too-ether. 

Father Dyer. — January 22, 1870, Father Dyer 
was with us. He came from Santa Fe to hold our 
quarterly meeting. It was held at Tiptonville. We 
preached at Watrous, Cherry Valley and Fort 
Union. 

January 31st, we held school meeting at Tipton's. 

Trustees had been elected for the new church or 
school building, and for school consisting of the fol- 
lowing named persons: Thomas Harwood, J. L. 



—78— 
History of New Mexico 

Dyer, W. E. Tipton, Enoch Tipton, G. W. Gregg, 
J. B. Watrous, Gov. W. A. Pile, M May, A J. Cal- 
houn, James Johnson, W. P. Shoemaker, Wm. 
Kroenig, S H. Wells, Col. J. C. Dent and Fred 
Ames. Thus we have a strong board. 

Thomas Harwood, as you know, was the pastor; 
J. L. Dyer, presiding elder of the district which at 
that time included all New Mexico and belonged to 
the Colorado Conference; W. A. Pile was Governor 
at that time of New Mexico and a Methodist; W. P. 
Shoemaker, captain in the regular army, but re- 
tired; Col. J. C. Dent was brother-in-law to Presi- 
dent Grant and a military sutler at Fort Union. All 
of the above so far as we know except three have 
passed away. 

School and Church Site.— A committee was ap- 
pointed to visit the people and ascertain who would 
donate the best site for the erection of a building 
and pay the most money on the same. It was to be 
a church building with aid from- the Board of 
Church Extension, and to be used also for school. 
The committee appointed made its report at this 
meeting, and reported as follows: 

"We, your committee appointed to canvass the 
neighborhood for the purpose of ascertaining where 
the church or school building would better be loca- 
ted, report as follows: 

"(i) William Kroenig offers a site of a few 
acres of land on his lake and about four hundred 
dollars in work or money for the erection of the 



—79— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

building", on the condition that the Bible be not read 
in the day school or any religion be taught in said 
school. 

"(2) S. B. Watrous has no land for any denomi- 
national school. 

"(3) James Johnson offers to deed twenty-five 
acres of land on his place at Cherry Valley without 
any provisos. 

"(4) W. B. Tipton offers a site of five or six 
acres of land on or near his place and about seven 
or eight hundred dollars in work or money on the 
building without any conditions whatever, and we 
your committee recommend that we close in on Mr. 
Tipton's offer ; by unanimous vote it was agreed to 
erect the building at the above named place/ 5 

Second Quarterly Meeting. — The next quarterly 
conference was held at Tipton's, April 23. At this 
conference the records show that Rev. J. L. Dyer 
was presiding elder, Thomas Harwood, pastor, and 
Mrs. Harwood. Sunday school superintendent. The 
records also show that the church had been organ- 
ized at Tipton ville and at Elizabethtown, and Sun- 
day schools held at each of these places and at Cher- 
ry Valley. They also show that a subscription had 
been taken by the pastor, Mr. Harwood, and sum- 
med up to $1,865. 

We give the following names of subscribers so as 
to preserve the record and to show the liberality of 
those early settlers at that time. This is more ap- 
propriate as they have nearly all passed away: 



—80— 
History of New Mexico 

Subscription. — W. B. Tipton, five acres of land, 
with small house and $700; Enoch Tipton, Boon 
Valley, $100; W. P. Shoemaker, Fort Union, $100; 
William Kroenig, La Junta, $100; J. B. Watrous, 
La Junta, $100; George Burge, $100; Thomas Har- 
wood, Tiptonville, $100; S. H. Wells, Tiptonville, 
$100; F. J. Ames, Ocate, $50; E. W. Shoemaker, 
Fort Union, $50; J. H. Murray, Fort Union, $50; 

G. W. Gregg, La Junta, $50; M. Heme, La Junta, 
$50 ; Mrs. J. S. Spencer and ladies East, $50; Mrs. 

H. A. Lincher, East, $50; Flora Donahue, Tipton- 
ville, $25; S. Boyles, Tiptonville, $25; G. Spear, 
Tiptonville, $25; W. Neal, Tiptonville, $25; J. E. 
Dent, Fort Union, $25; H. Rathage, Fort Union, 
$25 ; smaller subscriptions $45; total, $1,865. Board 
of Church Extension, $250. After this other sub- 
scriptions, making the total cost about $4,000. A 
debt had accumulated amounting to $450. About 
half of this was from W. B. Tipton and the balance 
from the writer. We each donated the claim to the 
school and the building was cleared from debt. 
Where are those generous-hearted men today? It 
seems sad and lonely to call to mind that they near- 
ly all have passed away, and I am left almost alone 
of all that number. At that time hardly one of them 
claimed to be religious. It has been my privilege to 
see the most of them become religious and to be 
with quite a number of them in their last sad hours 
of their departure, and to receive from them their 
dying testimony of trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. 



—81 

Spinas/? and English Missions. 
ELIZABETH TOWN. 

The same year in the early spring at Elizabeth- 
town, we reorganized the Church and appointed a 
board of trustees as follows: Charles Pease, H. M. 
Porter, C. P. Crawford, J. B. Bropbey, Frank Dim- 
mick, W. D. Dawson, Hiram Collins, Thomas Pol- 
lock and Thomas Lethain. I found the people here 
exceedingly liberal also, the subscription ran up to 
about $800. This with aid from Board of Church 
Extension of S250, we put up a very good building. 
This was dedicated July 3rd, 1870, by the writer of 
this book, being the first Methodist and the second 
house of worship erected in the territory by the 
Protestants. The first church dedicated was in 
Santa Fe by the Baptists in 1854, which, when the 
Rebellion broke out, the Baptists sol to the Pres- 
byterians. Another building had been nearly finish- 
ed by the Baptists at Socorro, but was never dedicat- 
ed by them, and in about 1880 the Presbyterians 
bought it and have since fitted it up for services. 
They bought it of J. M. Shaw, who had early in the 
fifties been a Baptist missionary. The Church at 
Elizabethtown served its day for several years for 
preaching and Sunday school services and was 
finally blown down by a severe wind-storm and 
crushed into splinters. The Baptists also built a 
chapel at Laguna for the Pueblo Indians. 

SCHOOL AT TIPTON VILLE. 

Tn the early part of the spring of 1870, after the 
future school had been fairly located, Mrs. Ha r woo J 



-82— 

History fo New Mexico 

opened her school at Tiptonville with quite a number 
of the same scholars of Cherry Valley in attendance, 
but they all looked forward with pleasure to the time 
when the school would open in the new building 
which was then being built. 

MANY STRANGE THINGS. 

Many things looked strange to us in this new 
country, new to us but some of it old to the people 
out here. Great trains of loaded government and 
other wagons would often pass the school, some of 
them drawn by oxen, some by small horses, but gen- 
erally by mules. Some were loaded for one place 
and some for another, some for even Mexico, a 
thousand miles away. The happiest parties were 
generally those with their burros loaded with their 
fruits from the Rio Grande country. Often large 
herds of cattle would be driven by ; sometimes several 
hundred or perhaps a thousand or more, in a drove. 
We used to feel sorry for the poor, tired, foot-sore 
animals. Their drivers often seemed so cruel. 
They used great big whips, and seemed as thougn 
they would almost cut the poor beasts in two. 

One day, a big, long-horned Texas steer ran 
through the gate into the school yard and made to - 
ward the door as if he were coming into the school- 
room. The teacher and scholars sprang to the door 
and closed it in time to save the school from what 
might have been a serious calamity. One of the 
drivers however was soon after him and whipped 
him with his big raw hide whip until the stubborn 



Spanish and English Missions. 



brute fell down, and could only be made to get up 
by being larieted and dragged by the horses. 

MARRIAGES IN 187O. 

So long as the world stands, I presume the people 
will get married. It has always been that way. The 
Saviour said: "For as the days that were before the 
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, until Xoah entered into the 
ark." There is nothing in a frontier country that 
interests the people in general so much as mar- 
riages. For this reason as well as to preserve for 
the memory of those who lived in those early days 
» >ut here, as well as for the information of their num- 
erous posterity. I give the following, only wishing, 
however, that I had time and space to comment on 
some special features of some of these cases : The 
first marriage ceremony I was called to perform, I 
will not give the name, I will only say that the occa- 
sion was a pleasant one, and took place at Moore's 
Mill, near where Watrous now 7 is. Think of the 
predicament of a parson when all was about ready 
for the ceremony, to step out to the buggy to get his 
saddle-bags in which he had placed his Discipline 
and finds that his saddle-bags, books and all had 
been stolen. He then resolved that if he should ever 
be able to preach in Spanish his first text should be; 
"Thou shalt not steal." 

February 20, 1870. Hon. H. S. Russell and Miss 
Racine McKay were united in holy wedlock, by me. 
in Garrick Hall, at Elizabethtown. About three hun- 



—84- 



Hi story of New Mexico 

dred people were present. March 15, at Fort Union, 
Ed. Sullivan and Senorita Otero were married by 
me. 

March 30, in Cimarron, Captain A. S. B. Keys 
and Senorita Virginia Maxwell were united in mar- 
riage by me. Present Isaiah Rinehafdt and wife. 
The marriage took place up in the third story of the 
large stone grist mill belonging to Mr. Maxwell. 
The room was strangely decorated with buffalo 
hides nicely tanned. Also bear, deer, Rocky Moun- 
tain lion skins, nicely tanned, with other strange or- 
naments too numerous to mention. 

April 14, J. L. Barbey and Miss Augusta Palmer, 
both of Las Vegas. She was an Episcopalian. She 
begged that I use her Episcopal prayer book, which 
I did and put special stress upon the \NOX<\' k obcy s 
which is not used in the Methodist Discipline. It 
made considerable merrimenit for the husband and 
others at the wedding. 

May 25, J. T. McNamara and Charlotte L Lacky 
were married at Fort Union. Witnesses, Messrs. 
Manderfield and Tucker, editors of the New Mex- 
ican at Santa Fe. 

October 22, at Cimarron, John Sygoult and Fran- 
ces S. Odell. 

October 16, at Tiptonville, Thomas Johnson and 
Fanny Arnott. 

January 5, 1871, Charles Wildenstine and Belina 
Watrous. 

March ij, 1871. Thomas Loathien and Miss 



Spanish and English Missions. 



Estella Miers. 

For marriages, baptisms, burials, etc., Methodist 
preachers are not allowed to charge anything, but 
the most of these people said, "We don't do business 
in that way, and insisted that I must accept at least 
as a present what they gave, all of which amounted 
the first year to about Si 50, which was a great help 
to the itinerant on a small salary, and in a country 
where everything cost so much, and although thirty- 
six years have passed away, and the itinerant is in 
his seventy-seventh years, he still thinks with great 
pleasure of those pleasant wedding occasions, and 
begs this opportunity to say to each one of the above 
named, if he or she is still living. "Mil gracias," 
that is. a thousand thanks. 

As the marriage of Captain Keys and Miss Max- 
well produced no little excitement, it deserves a full- 
er notice than the passing ones above made. It en 
dangered the preacher's life, subjected him to many 
threats of violence of different kinds. It was the 
first wedding and the last one that he has ever per- 
formed contrary to the wishes of the parents, bin 
this was a special case : he understood it well and con- 
scientiously performed the ceremony, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that he knew the parents would object. 
The lady was of age. well educated and well in- 
formed, and had resolved to break away from the 
long-established customs of the country of the par- 
ents selecting a husband or wife for their children. 
They wanted her to marrv a wealthy Mexican in the 



—86— 
History o f New Mexico 

Rio Grande. She said she hardly knew the man, 
did not love him nor never could, and she would 
never marry him. She said she did love Captain 
Keys, arid said she: "I shall marry him, and you, 
Mr. Harwood, are the only one who can help me 
out." I have never regretted the celebration of the 
above marriage, especially when I have watched 
their career, that they have lived a happy and hon- 
ored life, raised a large family and given their chil- 
dren a good education, the most of whom are now 
married, settled dbwn in life, and doing well. The 
oldest daughter married a military man who lost his 
life in the war in the Philippines, and the oldest son 
also lost his life in the Philippines after having done 
noble service in the Cuban war. 

Notwithstanding my former determination not to 
perform a marriage ceremony against the will of the 
parents, nevertheless, such was the pressure brought 
to bear in this case, I yielded and performed the cere 
mony. It was her own argument, however, tha 1 
convinced me that it ought to' be done. She had 
written me a nice, carefully worded letter. In this 
letter she informed me that she had fully made up 
her mind to marry Captain Keys, but her parents 
were so much opposed to it that the marriage would 
have to be done in secret and kept secret until tbev 
could get away. She also invited me on my next 
visit to Cimarron to call at their house and to call for 
her. I did so. I found her to be a well informed, 
self possessed and an accomplished young lady ; a 



—87— 



Spanish arid English Missions. 

graduate. I think, of a Roman Catholic school in St. 
Louis. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted 
to do. She had her plans well matured and all 1 
had to do was to simply say I would perform the 
marriage ceremony and do it. But in all this I was 
hard to move. I advised her to inform her parents 
what she intended to do just as she had informed me 
and in a little while they would likely consent to their 
marriage, and then, as you are all Roman Catholics, 
you could have a Roman Catholic priest perforin 
the ceremony and it would be so much better for all 
concerned. At this she said., "We are not all Catho- 
lics. Captain Keys is not a Catholic. I am, but I 
am not a bigot, and as to my father and mother, that 
would make no difference, but in addition to all that 
they must not know of it. If father knew of it," she 
went on to say, "he would be so angry he would tear 
down every house about the place if he could not 
prevent it in any other way. No, they must not 
know it," she said. But, I asked, "could you not get 
a justice of the peace to perform the ceremony?" To 
that she emphatically replied, "No, the only justice 
of the peace near us is my uncle, and he would in- 
form my parents at once. They must not know it 
until we get away." "But, Miss Maxwell, do you 
not see where it would place me? You and Captain 
Keyes will be gone and I will be left, and I am 
here as a missionary, a Protestant minister, and I 
must not place myself where your parents and ail 
your Roman Catholic friends will despise the ground 



- 88- 

History or Nciv Mexico 

upon which I walk. And if your father will be so 
angry that he will tear down all the houses in the 
place when he hears about your marriage, will he 
not tear me to pieces for performing the ceremony ?' 
At this she seemed not to know hardly what to say, 
but in a moment she seemed to recover and replied, 
"My father is not a vindictive man, and as you live 
quite a distance away, he will be all over it by the 
time he sees you." Miss Virginia saw that I was 
going to be hard to move. She sat at her beautiful 
piano, and I by a stand near the middle of the floor. 
About this time a fine looking, portly lady passed by 
the open door and looked in and halted. Miss Max- 
well rose and said: "Mr. Harwood, Mrs. Maxwell, 
my mother." Mrs. Maxwell bow'ed politely and 
passed on. I felt a little embarrassed and said, "Will 
not your mother think it strange to see a Protestant 
minister in the parlor talking with her daughter?" 
"Oh, no," she replied, "mother does not know who 
you are." Miss Virginia went on to say: "The fact 
is, father and mother had ' picked out for me ? 
wealthy man away down the Rio Grande. This you 
know is the custom of this country. This man is a 
native of the country and has thousands of sheer). 
He is said to be very wealthy. I presume he is a 
very good man, but I will never marry him. I hard- 
ly know- him. Have never seen him but a few times. 
I do not love him and I will never marry a man 
whom I do not love." 

At all the above T called to mind the customs of 



-89 - 

Spanish and English Missions. 

the country as I had already begun to learn of then;, 
how the old folks, parents, uncles and aunts and goo 
parents would pick out a young man or woman as 
the case might be and arrange for the marriage when 
the parties themselves knew but little about it until 
a little before the time set for the wedding. Calling 
to mind this foolish, if not to say wicked custom, and 
remembering what Miss Virginia had said about 
the wealthy man down the Rio Grande, that she 
would never marry him or any other man w r hom she 
did not love, however rich he might be, that she 
would miarry Mr. Keyes or she would never marry, 
I could not but admire the noble sentiments of this 
young lady. I said to myself, "This is one of the 
noble qualities of Protestantism. It is progress. I: 
is Americanism. It is independence. It is surely as 
it ought to be." With these reflections, I found my- 
self yielding to her wishes, but had not promised to 
perform the ceremony. I arose to go. Miss Virginia 
also politely arose and said, "Mr. Harwood, you 
have not promised to perform the ceremony.'' I 
said, "No, I cannot yet promise. I will go on to my 
next appointments at Red River and Vermejo, and 
will return at such a time and let you know." I re- 
turned March 30th. She had it all planned. No 
army general could have planned for a battle more 
wisely than she had planned for this marriage. She 
had made a confident of Mrs. Rinehardt, a good 
Methodist and the miller's wife. It was Indian ra- 
tion day. There would be hundreds of Apaches at 



—90~ 
History of New Mexico 

the mill to draw rations of meat and flour. "Mr. 
Keyes is their agent," said Miss Maxwell, "and will 
be there to issue rations to the Indians. Mrs. Rme- 
hardt and I will gx> down to the mill at 4 p. m. You 
must go down a little before that, and go up into the 
third story of the mill. Mrs. Rinehardt and I will 
go down to the mill, go in and get weighed, then go 
on up into the third story where I shall expect to find 
you and Mr. Keyes. When I go home," said Miss 
Virginia, "mother will ask 'Where have you been?' 
I will answer, 'Mrs, Rinehardt and I went down to 
the mill to see the Indians and got weighed. Guess 
how much I weigh, mother?' " It all turned out just 
that way. The mother guessed and never mistrusted. 
I found the third story of the big stone mill fixed up 
very nicely. The room had been swept and carpeted 
with different kind of robes, and it was a real cozy 
place for a marriage ceremony. I pronounced them 
"man and wife" in regular Methodist style in the 
presence of Mr. and Mrs, Rinehardt, and no one else. 
It was several weeks before they got off to his East- 
ern appointment, and the marriage was never found 
out until they were on the stage near Trinidad, out 
of the territory, and met the south-bound stage. The 
Captain handed the stage conductor a copy of thw. 
marriage certificate with my name to it and told him 
to give it to Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell at Cimarron. 
From Trinidad, Mr. and Mrs. Keyes sent me a line 
informing me that they had gone and I at once in- 
formed Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell that I had performed 



—91- 



Spatush and English Missions* 

the ceremony, stating at the same time that I felt 
very sorry for them, but hoped they would take a 
wise view of the matter and become reconciled to it. 



LETTERS FROM NEW MEXICO. 

The following letters were written by the author 
when in his first love of the country, or rather when 
lie hadn't much love for the country, but only in 
kind of jubilant hopefulness. 

Letter Xo. 4 refers to the Elizabethtown church 
building of which I have already spoken and said 
I dedicated it July 3, 1870. 

No. 1. 

La Junta, Jan. 10, 1870. 

* * * If any of you good people of Tomah 
should ever wish to come to this happy land (?) it 
is important that you know the way. 

There are two routes, one via Quincy, Kansas 
City, Sheridan, and the old Santa Fe southern over- 
land stage route; and the other, the Central Pacific 
to Cheyenne, thence to Denver, and then by the 
overland stage route to the old Santa Fe road. We 
took the former route. I think there is not much 
difference in the two as to distance, time or fare. 

We left La Crosse, after ten hours' patient wait- 
ing, on the steamer War Eagle, at 2 o'clock a. m.. 
Oct. 15th. Had a pleasant trip to Dunlieth. where, 
to save time, we took the cars to Quincy. via Men- 
dota. 



-92— 
History of New Mexico 

As we moved along down the rough grade near 
the great river, among the hills and hollows, we 
could not help contrasting the smooth, gliding boat, 
with the jolting cars. The following lines of Wolfe's 
Railroad Song were suggested: "Over ridges, gul- 
ly s, bridges, by the bubbling rills and mills, jumping, 
bumping, rocking." But soon we were out on the 
rich, rolling prairies, w r here farms, fields and orch- 
ards were charming to the view/' * * * Six hours 
sleepless, jolting brought us to Mendota. After 
waiting two hours, the expected train from Chicago 
arrived, and 12 o'clock next day brought us to 
Quincy, having passed through some delightful 
country, all dotted with villages, school houses, 
churches, etc. 

At 2 p. m. we were crossing the railroad bridge, 
into another great State, on the Hannibal and St. 
Joseph road. For some time the country seemed low 
and marshy, and the railroad song again came up — 
"Over moor and over bog, 
On the fly with ceaseless jog; 
Every instant something new, 
No sooner seen than lost to view." 
But as we advanced, the country grew better . 
"Now a tavern, now a steeple, 
Now a crowd of gaping people." 
Eight o'clock brought us to Macon City where we 
changed cars for Moberly Junction. A few hours' 
ride brought us to Moberly, where we changed 
again for Carrollton, at which place we arrived at 2 



—93— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

o'clock Sunday morning. Here we spent two days 
visiting with friends; but two days was too short a 
time for brother and sister, who had not met for 
fifteen years, to go back into childhood days, and live 
our lives over again. 

How gladly would I longer stay 

And talk of other days; 

But Duty calls me far away — 

He r voice I must obey. 
Reached Kansas Cty on Tuesday,, and Wednes- 
day started for Sheridan, 400 miles out on the 
plains, the present terminus of the Kansas Pacific 
Railroad. For a hundred miles or more the country is 
delightful, the road running mostly m the valley of 
the Kansas river. The surface of the country is 
mostly level, with some nice rolling prairies, tim- 
ber, etc. 

At about 9 a. m. we reached Ellsworth, and tied 
up for the night, on account of Indian troubles. 
Reached Sheridan next day and saw a vast number 
of buffalo and antelope while crossing the plains. 

After a journey from Sheridan of 200 miles by 
stage and the same distance by rail, we reached La 
Junta. In this 400 mile trip but little improvement 
is seen; but the buffalo and antelope galloping awa\< 
in frantic haste, the vast and almost endless plains, 
and the smoking fires in the distance make this 
part of the journey very interesting. 

The entire distance here from La Crosse is about 
1600 miles: and the cost of the journey about Si 50. 



History of New Mexico 



it is a very pleasant trip. 

Thos. Harwood. 

No. 2. 

La Junta, Jan. 20, 1870. 

* * * I promised in my last letter to write 
again and give some information concerning the geo- 
graphical features of the country. 

We are about one. hundred miles south of the 
Colorado line, about the same distance west of In- 
dian Territory and the same a little north of east 
from old Santa Fe. 

My circuit lies about one hundred miles along the 
east slope of the Rocky Mountians. The main ridge 
of the mountains lies back some thirty or forty 
miles westward, and has the appearance of an angry- 
looking storm-cloud. The snow-capped mountain 
peaks look much like the little thunder heads rolling 
fiercely up above the main cloud. 

The whole country is vastly elevated — conse- 
quently the climate is colder than in the same lati- 
tude in the States; but owing to the dryness of the 
atmosphere it is far more pleasant, either in winter 
or summer. The face of this country is generally 
rough and rocky, but still there is a great deal of 
f : ne. -month, level land. The plains open out some- 
times from twenty to forty miles without much in- 
terruption. In this part of the country the plains 
and the mountains have the appearance of having 
madp, at some remote period, a compromise, and 
each -riven to the other a porton of its own. Occa- 



—95 

Spanish and English Misswns. 

sionally spurs of the Rocky Mountains crop out, and 
extend on the plains twenty to forty miles; and the 
plains in return extend up into the mountains, rising 
in table lands so gradually that one can scarcely per- 
ceive the rise. 

We have the best natural roads I ever saw, or 
rather places for roads. Neither marsh or sand to 
contend with, but occasionally a spur of the moun- 
tains either to cross or to go around ; but generally 
they are not difficult to cross, there being a frequent 
canyon, winding around and rising so gradually 
that you will scarcely perceive that you are climbing 
a mountain. 

Timber is quite plentiful, but of a rather inferior 
quality. There is pine, cedar, pinon, oak, cotton- 
wood, etc. The two last named are not plentiful, 
being found mostly on the streams. The other kinds 
are found growing on the mountains and hillsides. 
The lumber made here is mostly of pine. It is not 
first rate, but brings from $18 to $20 per M , Shin- 
gles, from $6 to $10. The plains or prairies are 
generally clear, but you will sometimes see scrubby 
little oaks growing thick on the ground, very much 
like hazel brush in the States. There is also the 
cactus, and a kind of evergreen growng up in round 
bunches, called soap weed. The Mexicans use the 
roots of the soap weed for washing, it being a very 
good substitute for soap. 

The country is tolerably well watered. Between 
this point and the Colorado line there are ten creeks. 
T believe they are bridged, yet, at any ordinary 



96— 

History fo New Mexico 

stage of water, they might all be forded. There 
are, among the hills and mountains, a great many 
beautiful little springs. The water, in this part of 
the Territory, is all good. There is but a small 
portion of the land tillable — I think not more than 
one acre in twenty, upon an average. They have to 
irrigate, and consequently farming is confined to 
that portion of the land where ditches can be cut 
and water conveyed from the main streams. With- 
in the hundred miles above spoken of, as I said 
before are ten creeks. The valleys or bottom lands 
of said creeks are the only portions of the land 
where water can be had. These will average about 
one-fourth of a mile on each side of the streams. So 
we have about five miles of tillable land in the hun- 
dred. I would judge that about one-half of all the 
Territory I have seen would be good farming land 
if it only could be watered. But it is not lost — it is 
fine grazing land. 

Some of my appointments are in the mountains, 
among which are Ute Creek, Willow River, Quartz 
Mills and Elizabethtown. The latter is a place of 
about 500 inhabitants, mostly engaged in mining 
interests. The town is situated in the midst of the 
finest mountain scenery I ever saw, among some 
beautiful little hills which seem to have rolled down 
from the huge mountains above, and lie on the 
south base of the range known as "Big Mountains.'* 
Tn front of the village is a little valley sloping from 



—97 

Spanish and English Missions. 

the east and west, through which runs a beautiful 
little mountain stream. Beyond the valley rises up 
in majestic grandeur "Bald Mountain," said to be 
the highest of all the southern chain of the Rocky 
Mountains, lifting up its bald head 13,000 feet 
above the level of the sea. 

At our last Quarterly Meeting, at Elizabethtown, 
on the 8th. the Rev. J. L. Dyer and myself took the 
summer trail and crossed over "Old Baldy," as it 
is here called. We started on our ponies, winding 
OUr way up through gulches and canyons, and at 
length reached the foot of the immediate mountain, 
where we found gold "diggings" and a family re- 
siding. Here we rested and took dinner. Being 
much refreshed we journeyed on, leading our ponies 
most of the way, now and then stopping to "blow/' 
for the mountain air is so rarified that one who is not 
used to it will soon be out of breath. The little fir 
trees with which the north side of the mountain is 
lined all sparkling with their pure white frosty 
dresses, and the mazy distance below us. with the 
light, fleecy clouds kissing the mountain sides were 
scenes of beauty grand beyond descrption. A few 
struggles more, and we reach the top. There we 
stood. 2i miles higher than we were when in our 
boyhood days we had climbed up into the highest 
tree-tops, on the Atlantic coast. * * Soon the 
frosty air made us feel like seeking a warmer clim^ 
and we descended on the south side into a canyon, 
where two quartz mills were grinding out gold. 



—98— 

History of New Mexico 

We gathered a congregation, the P. E., my com- 
panion, preached, and I tried to exhort. 
Truly yours, 

Thos. Harwood. 

No. 3. 

La Junta, Feb. 1, 1870. 

The Climate. 

It would be difficult for me to give a fair state- 
ment of the climate of this or of any other moun- 
tainous country, because of the difference of . alti- 
tude in the different localities. A single day's ride 
west from where I am now writing would bring us 
to where almost perpetual winter reigns, or at least 
to where ice and snow 7 may be seen the year round. 
But a day's ride in the opposite direction would 
bring us where snow r is seldom seen, and where it 
is said to be extremely warm in summer. This is 
owing to the difference of altitude between the two 
places. I am in latitude 36 degrees north, and about 
28 degrees west longitude from Washington. 

The winters are not uncomfortably cold, gener- 
allly. So far, this has been the most delightful win- 
ter I have ever seen, and yet it is said by old settlers 
to have been a little colder than usual. I think it has 
been colder than the winters of 1864-5 ' m Arkansas 
and Georgia. But far more pleasant because of the 
dryness of the country. There is seldom any rain 
here in winter. Not much snow, consequently no 
mud. The roads have been delightful all winter ex- 
cept occasional dust. Indeed the high winds and 



—99 

Spanish and English Missions. 

storms of dust are, I think, the most objectionable 
features of the country. The rainy season here is 
generally from June to September. 

Xights generally cold ; days cool in cloudy weather. 
There is probably the least difference here in the 
temperature of winter and summer than of any place 
in which I have ever lived. The country is healthy, 
and must eventually be the great resort for health 
of the people of the States. 

No. 4. 

La Junta, N. M. 

Mr. Editor: Dear Sr — I would like through the 
medium of your paper, to express my most heartfelt 
thanks to the kind people of your city for their 
liearty and generous responses to our church sub- 
scription paoer. Tis true the church building is to 
be in your own midst, and like all other public enter- 
prises, will greatly enhance the property of your 
city; but such was the hearty co-operation with 
which I met in soliciting aid for said enterprise, that 
I felt constrained in some way to express my appre- 
ciation of the same. 

When the corner-stone of our building is laid, we 
shall want with many other items and relics of in- 
terest, a copy of the church subscription, with the 
names of all the subscribers, and the sum of each, to 
be enclosed in a neat little metallic box. to be de- 
posited in the foundation of the building. 

Any person wishing his name and his deeds to be 



-100— 
History of New Mexico 

immortalized, remembered and perpetuated, will 
please bear in mind that the subscripton paper is not 
yet closed, and may be found at the editor's office, 
and like 

"The happy gates of gospel grace, 
Stand open night and day." 

Thomas Harwood. 



A Horseback Ride With Father Dyer. 

The reader will remember the Quarterly Meeting 
held at Tipton's, April 23d, 1870, at which Father 
Dyer presided. From there we started, April 25, 
for quite a missionary trip via Ft. Union, Ocatc, 
Cimarron, Elizabethtown, Hot Springs, down the 
Cimarron River, crossing the Rio Grande at the 
pueblo of San Juan, thence via Santa Cruz to Santa 
Fe, where we spent the Sabbath of May 3d. 

This was an interesting trip. At Ocate we passed 
the night with F. J. Ames, who kept the stage sta- 
tion. There were only a few to attend the ser- 
vices, and nothing of interest occurred. The next 
night we were at Cimarron. On the way to Cim- 
arron, the home of L. B. Maxwell, where the 
famous wedding of his daughter, Virginia, had 
taken place, I told Father Dyer about the mar- 
riage. He said he thought it was all right, but 
sorry that I had to perform the ceremony. He was 
nfraid that Maxwell would give me trouble, or 
some of those who were hanging around him hoping 
to get a little of his money when he sold his grant. 



- 101- 

Sfanish and English Missions. 

The sale was then pending at about §2,000,000. 

The next clay we journeyed on to Jilizabethtown. 
We spent a little time in one of the deepest canyons 
looking at the stars in day time. I knew about 
where in the sky to look for Venus, and I think 
Jupiter, and had no trouble to see them, which 
seemed quite a novel thing to Father Dyer. We 
also spent some time in amusing ourselves in meas- 
uring' the high up cliffs in the rocks by means of a 
pole and its shadow and the height of some of the 
high points. 

We held Quarterly Meeting at Elizabethtown 
and talked up the church building enterprise. 
Father Dyer felt quite at home at this place, for he 
had lived there the year before. He had bought a 
lot, put up a narrow room with a partition. He 
kept his horse in one room, and he lived in the other. 
At this meeting he donated the house to the church. 
We took out te partition and fixed it up for church 
services. In that we held Sunday schools, prayer 
meetings and preaching. It served very well until 
the church building was finished and dedicated the 
following July. The next day we left for Taos. 

We found Taos a quaint old town. The next 
day we journeyed on to the Hot Springs, called in 
Spanish Ojo Caliente, crossing the Rio Grande at 
Cieneguilla, nearly opposite where Barrancas station 
on the Denver and Rio Grande Railway now is. I 
had read of, and heard of the Rio Grande, so called 
because it is a great river, also at times and on 



—102— 
History of Nczv Mexico 

some maps called El Rio Bravo, because of the 
fierceness of the stream, and sometimes El Rio Fu- 
rwso, because of its dashing, whirling, foaming 
waters, and the sight of it was elating. We crossed 
it, however, without any difficulty, thence on up a 
winding trail and over mesas and finally to the Hot 
Springs. It was a long, hard ride, and after supper, 
a bath in the springs was refreshing. We wanted 
to hold religious services, but the people were 
Roman Catholics, and seemed afraid of us. 

The springs were fine. They are now, at thh 
writing, 1906, well improved and a great health 
resort. The next day we came over to the Chama 
River and down that mountain stream to the Rio 
Grande at San Juan where we had to cross on boats 
managed by the Pueblo Indians of that place. It 
had been only three days since we crossed the same 
river farther up with our horses without much 
trouble, but now a few days of warm weather had 
melted the snow 7 and the river was so deep the 
horses had to swim. 

Here we found that an Indian is an Indian, 
even if he is a Pueblo Indian. We made, as we 
thought a fair bargain to take both across for a dol- 
lar, but when Father Dyer paid the dollar, they 
then came to me for my dollar, claiming that I was 
not paying anything. I had to pay it or have a row,* 
and we couldn't afford that. These Pueblos are 
nearly all Romanists, but as Doctor Lore says, page 
.40 of this book, their religion "sits very loosely. v 



—103— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

The next day we came on to Santa Fe. I was 
anxious to see the old town. I remembered study- 
ing the geography that we had to point out the trail 
from Independence, Mo., to Santa Fe. That part 
of the map on which Santa Fe was found, was used 
so little, that, as I now remember it. the dust on the 
maps almost covered it up. When we crossed the 
last and main divide between the Rio Grande and 
the city and it first appeared in sight, it made the 
impression of a large brick yard, and although the 
town has greatly improved since that time, still that 
first impression yet remains. We had a good Sun- 
day. I preached once for Father Dyer and talked 
on temperance at night in Major Sena's hall. The 
congregation was good for the place, probably forty 
or more. 

Next day Father Dyer, as that then was his home 
took me around where we made several calls. We 
went to the Old Palace to see Governor W. A. Pile 
and family. The Governor had been a Methodist 
preacher and had not lost his interest in religious 
tilings. It seemed however that he had become quite 
exacting, and somewhat given to fault-finding. 
Father Dyer organized the Methodist Episcopal 
irch at that place and his preaching, Sunday 
school and ^ther services were held in Major Sena's 
hall. When the Governor, his family and the at- 
taches of the government left, the church was too 
weak to advance, especially after the pastor had 
been removed. In the early fifties. Dr. Nicholson 



—104— 
History of New Mexico 

organized the church ; it was made up then with 
army officers and others belonging to the civil or 
military ranks. 

I also made the acquaintance of Dr. D. F. McFai- 
land, the Presbyterian minister. He told me he had 
been there since 1866. He impressed me as a man 
of considerable ability. He and his wife also had a 
school, and kept a boarding school. Mrs. McFar- 
land also impressed me as a great worker. It is 
wonderful what a help to a missionary in a country 
like Santa Fe was at that time, or almost any other 
new country, his wife can be provided she is a w*ise 
and strong worker like Mrs. McFarland or Mrs. 
Harwood was. 

I also made the acquaintance of Messrs. Catron, 
Elkins, the Breedens, ex-Governor Arny, Sec- 
retary Ellison and many others whose names 
are yet fresli in my mind, but time and space will 
not allow further mention. I learned from Mr. El- 
lison that he knew our first missionary to New Mex- 
ico, the Rev. E. G. Nicholson. He said he had a 
large family Bible that Mr. Nicholson presented 
him with in 1850. This Bible is now 7 in my posses- 
sion in the Albuquerque College library. I spent 
some time with Mr. Ellison in the old historic rooms 
among the Archivos (archives) of New Mexico. 
They are all, or nearly all, in Spanish, a language I 
did not understand at that time, but Mr. Ellison 
who had given much time to the Spanish language 
and had a Mexican wife and family, made such ex- 



—105— 

Sptmts/i and English Misaens. 

planations and translations that a taste to know 
more of the old rusty manuscripts and volumes was 
created. I felt exceedingly bad when I learned that 
shortly after this that Governor Pile had allowed 
quantities of the valuable documents to be taken 
out and sold for wrapping paper. (See New Mex- 
ico newspapers 1870,) 

While the first impression, at first sight, of Santa 
Fe was that of a large brick yard, still there is 
something about the quaint old town that lingers 
pleasurably in the mind long after one has left the 
place. Its location is good, its soil for fruits and 
vegetables fine, its air balmy and bracing, its mesas, 
foothills, higher elevations and mountain ranges 
covered with pine, pinon, cedar and spruce, is sub- 
lime, and its people sociable, kind-hearted and in- 
telligent; and all this brings a feeling upon one that 
makes him about ready to say "I would like to 
stay" 

Three days via San Jose, Tecolote and Las Vegas 
brought me back to La Junta, where I found the 
school doing well under Mrs. Harwood's wise sup- 
ervision. 

Correspondence. 

From the beginning of my work in New Mexico, 
I have nearly always been burdened with letters. 
Some farmer, perhaps, will want to know how is 
the soil? Another how is the climate? Is it very 
hot in Spring and Summer? How is the grazing? 
How is the mining? How is the fishing? How is 



—106— 
History oj iVew Mexico 

the hunting'.' How are the people: How are your 
schools'.' etc., etc. Of course they must all be an- 
swered. But there were other letters, one 
from Captain Keys, dated away over in Colorado, 
saying, k 'VV'e are gone. You can make the mar- 
riage known as soon as you wish. We sent one ot 
the certificates back to Mr. Maxwell that you gave 
us." 

A Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell. 

i wrote a real affectionate letter to Mr. and Mrs. 
Maxwell, expressing much sorrow for them, ex- 
plaining why I performed the ceremony and ex- 
pressing the hope that it was all right and also the 
hope that they and other friends of theirs would 
take a considerate view of the matter and become 
reconciled to it. They never made any reply, but 
in a short time other letters came, some from 

Friends and Some From Foe? 

the burden of all was that it would not be safe for 
me to come up to Cimarron for some time. From 
Trinidad the caution came not to come up that way, 
that threats had been made. Also from Elizabeth - 
town advising me not to come to fill my next ap- 
pointment. A man told me sometime afterwards 
that he rode up to Mr. Maxwell's store in the dark, 
and Maxwell thinking it was the parson, snatched 
him off his horse. One man was going to "duck 
me in the water"; another was going to "black- 
snake" me, no difference where it might be, etc., etc. 
Ther was so much of it, I got tired of it, and I had 



—107— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

some 

Serious Thoughts. 

I said to myself, I have been a soldier under 
Grant, and Sherman, and Howard, and Logan, and 
Rusk, shall I now cringe like a cur before such fel- 
lows as these who are scraping and bowing to a rich 
man with the hope that they will, by so doinp-. get a 
few crumbs from his rich, two million dollar sale of 
his grant? I said, "No, the Lord helping me, I will 
go up to Elizabethtown and fill my next Sunday ap- 
pointment. " I had not, up to this time, carried a 
pistol but once, and it was almost forced upon me 
at that time. I started then up in the mountains to a 
saw-mill to contract lumber for our church and 
school building at Tiptonville. I rode as far as Ft. 
Union and took dinner with Captain Shoemaker. 
When he found that I had no pistol, he said, "Mr. 
Harwood, I won't let you go up in the mountains 
all alone unarmed. You must take my pistol." I 
rather hesitated, but he said, "You must take it; you 
don't know the danger in this country." "Why," said 
he, "this country is full of fellows who would kill 
you or anyone else for $5.00, if he could get a. 
horse like yours and get away." I took it, reached 
the saw-mill about sunset. I had hardly laid the 
pistol down before a man ran in excited, caught up 
my pistol and had reached the door, when I cried 
out, "Don't take my pistol." He came back quickly, 
threw mine down and ran and found another and 
rushed out again, and his man was gone. When 



History oj New exico 



he came back, i said, "What in the world is the 
matter?" He said, "A man out there insulted me, 
and I believe if you had let me use your pistol, the 
fellow would be a dead man by this time. I am 
glad though you didn't let me use it." And so it 
is, as I have often said, more lives are lost by car- 
rying weapons than otherwise would be. But in 
this case, going up to Elizabethtown, I borrowed a 

Colt's Revolver, 

and buckled it on the horn of the saddle and started. 
The first day out I had no trouble, but began to find 
that I had more friends than I thought I had. 
Nearly all the Americans with whom I met, said, 
"You did right." One prominent American said, 
"It w r as the bravest thing that has ever been done in 
this country," but I cared nothing about the bravery, 
only the consciousness that I had done right was all 
that concerned me. The next day before I reached 
Cimarron, I concluded I would not risk going 
through town, but take a trail that was quite a cut- 
off as to distance, but was a rough trail. I had not 
gone far before I was overtaken by four Indians 
on Indian ponies except one. He was on an Am- 
erican horse, and could speak pretty good English. 
They w~ere riding abreast, and he next to me. They 
rode up by my side and he commenced to talk I 
thought much too freely. He asked "What have you 
•in your saddle-bag?" I replied, "I have some- 
thing to eat." "Are you hungry?" I asked. To 
which he grunted "No." "Let me have your blan- 



— 109— 

Spanish ana i^uglish Missions. 

kets, ' he demanded. I answered^ "Oh. no, I may 
have to camp out tonight and shall need them." lie 
then wanted to look at my pistol. I was trying to 
refuse him that privilege, out almost quicker than 1 
could say "Oh, no," he made a reach for it. My 
pony was a cow-boy pony, and was as quick as 
ihought, and jumped away and at that I laid hold 
of the pistol and they spurred their horses and were 
soon out of sight in the turn of the trail. Then 
.oilowed 

Still ?t!ore Serioas Reflection. 

Cimarron and Maxwell in the rear and hostile 
Apaches in my front. What shall I do? Of the two 
dangers I concluded to choose the least, as I thought 
and pressed on. I soon came to an Indian camp, but 
didn't see the fellows who had acted so strangely. 
The next day as I rode up into Elizabethtown, pas- 
ing a saloon, a man came to the door and said "There 
comes that Methodist preacher" with a terrible 
oath, at which several came to the door. I took hold 
of the pistol but didn't draw it from the sheathe. 
Xo one made any further remark. I never knew 
what they thought. The next day was Sunday. I 
had a fair congregation at n o'clock, but a crowded 
rouse at night. In the afternoon, however, I was an- 
noyed and a little provoked by a certain doctor. He 
wanted to talk about the matter and had espoused 
Mr. Maxwell's side. I didn't want to talk with him, 
for I found he was likely to be abusive. With other 
things he said, "I think Mr. Maxwell .will challenge 



-110— 
History of New Mexico 

you to fight a duel with him. If he does, what will 
you do?" I replied that, "If Mr. Maxwell chal- 
lenges me to fight a duel with him, I shall very re- 
spectfully decline." "If he calls me a coward, t 
shall tell him that it is a brave man who can say 'no 
against public sentiment." I preached with unsual 
liberty on wrong-doing in general and lack of moral 
principle in particular as witnessed in some men who 
are almost ready to bow down and worship a man 
if he has money. "That is idolatry of the meanest 
kind." If you let a man influence and control you 
because he has gold, is it the man or his gold that 
controls you? Then using Ben Franklin's homely 
illustration, only a little stronger, suppose the man's 
wealth should consist in a thousand Texas steers in- 
stead of gold, who then controls, the man himself, or 
his thousand long-horned steers? "I think the steers." 
I presume no one thought I meant him, as all seemed 
to appreciate the homely illustration. 



THE MAXWELL ROMANCE. 
Unwritten Chapter in the Life of Virginia, the Beautiful 
Daughter of Lueien Maxwell — Her Secret Marriage in 
the Old Mill at Cimarron in 1870. 

From the Denver Republican. 

Early in the forties, one Hypolite Beaubien pro- 
cured from the Mexican government a grant of 144 
leagues of land, lying on the Cimarron river, in 
what is now Colfax county. New Mexico, for the 



Spanish and English Missions. 



purpose of peopleing it with emigrants and estab- 
lishing plantations, i he grant was confirmed by the 
Mexican congress, but nothing of moment was done 
towards its settlement that is of record previous to 
the Mexican war, which occurred in 1847. Dur- 
ing the following year the treaty of Guadalupe Hi- 
dalgo was concluded between Mexico and the 
United States, by the terms of which New Mexico 
and Upper California were ceded to the latter and 
the lower Rio Grande, from its mouth to El Paso 
taken as the boundary of Texas. 

In the summer of 1843, Fremont, with a party 
of thirty-nine men, began his explorations across 
the continent and surveyed the then unknown re- 
gion lying between the Rocky mountains and the 
Pacific ocean. History has detailed the impediments 
the brave discoverer encountered, the trials he en- 
dured, and the victories he conquered. Among his 
band was Lucien Maxwell, who accompanied the 
expedition in the capacity of cook. He is represent- 
ed to have been a man of herculean mould, uncon- 
querable courage, great fertility of resources and 
wonderful sagacity. One day Fremont discovered 
that the cook was in the habit of kneading the bread 
prepared for that officer's table with his feet and 

Sent Him Adrift 

in the mountains, without sriide or compass to di- 
rect his way to any settlement in that unknown re- 
gion. But the courage of the man thus ostracised 
did not desert him, and after suffering what he de- 



—112— 
History of New Mexico 

scribed as torture more terrible than any the Inquisi- 
tion ever gave birth to, he made his way to Mexico, 
where he engaged in a mental capacity for Hypo- 
lite Beaubien. Remaining here for some time, he 
found occasion, when not pressed with the discharge 
of his duties, to make love to the daughter of an 
old Canadian Frenchman, and so successfully die 
he prosecute his suit, that she yielded to the devo- 
tions that he manifested, and consenting to become 
his wife the ardent couple were married. The re- 
maining sister was subsequently wedded to a Mexi- 
can named Jesus Abrea, and the household thus in- 
creased settled down to live on the Cimarron river, a 
short distance from Fort Union. This was the con- 
dition of affairs as near as can be ascertained when 
the war with Mexico was concluded by the treaty 
above cited. 

In time a family blessed the household of Max- 
well, consisting of a son and three daughters. 
Among the latter w r as Virginia Maxwell, represent- 
ed by those who are familiar with the facts to have 
been 

A Girl of Rare Beauty 

and inheriting many of the traits of her father. In 
addition to her beauty she was possessed of remark- 
able accomplishments, great decision of character, 
exceptional executive abilities, and great daring. At 
an early age and at a period of her girlish life when 
romance was yet an undiscovered branch in the cur- 
riculum of her education, she with a sister, was 
taken to St. Louis, where her education was com- 



— 113 



Spanish and English Mission*. 

pleted at the Convent Visitation, on Cass avenue, 
She remained here four years passing the vacation 
of succeeding years during her student life under the 
care of the pious Sisterhood. Upon graduating she 
returned home and was met at the house of a friend 
of the family, by her mother, and in her company 
continued the journey homeward. Upon arriving 
at her father's house she became his amanuensis, and 
was subjected to a condition of espionage that must 
have been galling to the high spirited girl she is said 
to have been. Xone of the limited advantages of 
social life, as they then existed in the thinly settled 
region, were afforded her. She was denied the at- 
tentions of a gentleman and prohibited from visiting 
among the neighbors who resided at no considerable 
distance from her father's house. So far did the 
old man carry this prohibition that he vowed that 
immediately she accepted courtesies from any of the 
opposite sex, he would cause her to be entered as 

A Novitiate at a Convent 

where the discipline was the most severe and the 
rules the most exacting. She apparently complied 
with the observances her parent imposed, and for an 
indefinite period was subjected to an experience that 
must have been humiliating. 

Along in 1870, a Captain Keyes, nephew of Vice 
President Wilson, was appointed Indian agent, and 
assumed charge of affairs which had previously been 
entrusted to Lucien Maxwell. He boarded at the 



History oj New Mexico 



Maxwell house, an unpretentious inn in ihc village 
of Cimarron, and led a sort of idle, go-lucky life in 
the midst of surroundings the opposite of congenial 
to one who had been educated at West Point and 
mixed with the select circles of Boston. His busi- 
ness made it necessary for him to make frequent vis- 
its to the home of Mr Maxwell, and thus he formed 
the acquaintance of the young lady. It doesn't take 
long for an impressional, emotional girl, ostracised 
from society, and committed to the life of a recluse, 
to build in the realms of the bright ideal a fabric of 
love, and inhabit that fabric with a mate to whom 
she could devote her life's affection, nn«i the present 
instance proved no exception to the rule. These 
visits proved to be new dispensations in the life of 
Virginia Maxwell, nor was she slow to so regard 
them. They became more frequent, and the thoughts 
of each ran wild in 

"The Sunshine of the Future." 

Obscured, however, by clouds, through the rifts of 
which the light broke after many days, to shine with 
resplendent magnificence forever and forever. They 
ended as such episodes in life always end — she began 
to love him, and that love found response in the 
breast of the Indian agent. 

The course of their love from this time forth was 
over shnllows, and, it must be full of bitterness to 
both. He was a gentleman, it is said, in all that 
contributes to the character of a gentleman as the 



— 115 



Spanish and English Missions. 

world goes. He was educated, refined, accomplish- 
ed, but possessing few of those traits which inspired 
a Consoder, and not daring to attempt what love 
can do and will do until life has run its course. 
There was littie of the gallant in his composition, it 
is said, and wdien engaged upon the stolen interviews 
which are said to have taken place between them 
at long intervals, the young lady assumed ail risks 
and responsibility. 

At this time Maxwell had in his employ a rude, 
uncouth but fearless man named Reinhardt, who 
had charge of the old man's mill. He was married 
and supported his family in a house belonging to 
and situated at some distance from the residence of 
his employer. At this house the lovers met, but it 
also sheltered a Methodist circuit rider named Har- 
wood, who taught the only Protestant school in New 
Mexico, and visited Cimarron fortnightly to preach 
the gospel to such of the inhabitants as occasionally 
experienced the spirit of religious inspiration moving 
within them. 

One day as he was sauntering lazily down the 
street at a point between Maxwell's store and resi- 
dence he was 

Overtaken by Miss Virginia. 

After passing the compliments of the season, for 
Parson Harwood was one person excepted in Max- 
well's prohibition, she first pledged him to secrecy, 
and then told him that she wanted him to marry 
her to Captain Keyes that night in her father's niiii. 



—116— 
History of New Mexico 

At first he declined to be made a party to any such 
conspiracy. If she desired to marry, her father's 
house was the place at which the ceremony should 
be performed. But she declined to view it from that 
standpoint, and assured Harwood that she would 
accompany Keyes when the latter's resignation was 
accepted married or not. Upon this presentation of 
the case, he consented to officiate. Accordingly, that 
nirfit, Virginia left the home of her childhood, and 
proceeded to the mill and there met her lover, the 
parson, Reinhardt and Calhoun's bartender. She is 
said to have been composed and fearless, while her 
lover, like the lover of the bride of Netherby, stood 
twirling his hat in his hand, pale as a ghost, and 
trembling from head to foot, a picture of abject fear 
and craven cowardice, foreign to his rank and pre- 
tensions. The ceremony was performed and at its 
conclusion the new-made bride handed Mr. Har- 
wood $25 in gold and the party separated. She re- 
turned to her parent's house, the groom and bar- 
keeper to the hotel, and Reinhardt to his cottage. 

Previous to this Reyes had sent in his resignation 
as Indian agent to the Interior Department, and, 
pending its acceptance, is said to have led the life 
of a man w 7 ho had committed a felony and existed 
in constant apprehension that its discovery would be 
made. At the expiration of six weeks he was noti- 
fied of the appointment of his successor and upon 
the latter s arrival, turned over his accounts and 
made 



— 117- 

Spanisk and English Missions. 
Hasty Preparations to Depart. 

Upon the completion of these, one morning Vir- 
ginia was discovered proceeding down the stage 
road alone. Soon after Captain Keyes was observed 
going in the same direction, accompanied by a ser- 
geant of the military company stationed at Cimar- 
ron. Later the stage came along. Upon its reaching 
the foot of the hill, husband and wife entered the 
vehicle, the latter having first paid the driver .$100 
to reach the Colorado line in advance of pursuit, that 
was anticipated would follow their departure. 

At the time these preliminaries were in progress, 
Maxwell was entertaining a company of visitors at 
his house. About 10 o'clock in the morning a Mexi- 
can lad appeared opposite the mansion, and handing 
Maxwell a sealed envelope, hurried off before in- 
quiry could be made as to its contents. Upon break- 
ing the seal, the envelope was found to enclose a cer- 
tificate of marriage between Keyes and Virginia. 
Its recipient became speechless for the moment, but 
recovering from the surprise it occasioned, he is said 
to have stormed at a furious rate, and ordering his 
saddle horse, announced it as his determination to 
hasten after the fugitives and recapture the fleeing 
bride. He was dissuaded from this, however, by a 
man named Curtis, and issuing an edict that Y r ir- 
dnia's name should never again be mentioned, set- 
tled back into the life of a harsh, relentless man. 
When the Maxwell land grant was disposed of to 
the English company he went to Xew York, where 



-118— 
History of New Mexico 

Mrs. Keyes met him, and after placing $10,000 to 
her credit they separated and forever. He died in 
1878 at the house of Jesus Olivera, near Cimarron. 
Captain Keyes and his wife were at last accounts in 
Texas. 

Albuquerque, N. M., June 5, 1906. 

We have reproduced the above article, taken 
from Denver (Colorado) Republican, because it 
throws much light on the conditions of things prev- 
alent in New Mexico at that early day. The most 
of it is true and well written, and will be read with 
pleasure by all who take an interest in the early af- 
fairs of this country. There are a few errors how- 
ever which we wish to correct. 

1st It is not true that the bartender was present 
at the wedding. There was only the contracting 
parties, the preacher and Mr. and Mrs. Rinehardt. 
If he was there he surely was not in sight. 

2nd It is not true that Captain Keys showed 
cowardice, for he was a brave man, and has proven 
himself to be ever since that time. Not only brave, 
but a trusted and a highly respected military officer. 

3rd It is not true that Miss Maxwell gave me 
$25 for my services. Mr. Keys, on my return from 
Elizabethtown, where I went to fill my appoint- 
ment as preacher, met me and apolgized for not 
thinking of it at the time, and gave me a sealed let- 
ter that had in it $25. Some said that the "parson 
received big money for that job. That he would not 
run all that risk for nothing/ ' One man said, "I 



—119— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

know that he received a hundred dollars, said T saw 
it paid to him by Miss Maxwell.' " Some said I re- 
ceived a thousand dollars. The facts are I received 
only the $25, but that was enough. Methodist 
preachers are not allowed to make any charge tor 
marriages, baptisms, or funeral services, but when 
the parties see fit to give something as a donation, 
we are allowed to receive it. This takes away all 
possibility to speculate or traffic in sacred things. 

4th Neither do I think it is true that Mr. Max- 
well "kneaded the bread with his feet." He was a 
man of fine physique, mentally, no slouch ; and prac- 
tically, far ahead of his neighbors. The "kneading 
the bread with his feet" was doubtless one of New 
Mexico's invented lies for which the territory was 
noted in the early days. The first winter the writer 
was here, at one of his appintments, he was snowed 
in at Elizabethtown. It was several days before he 
could get home. When he reached home the news 
had preceded him that he had gambled his horse 
away and remained trying to win him back. The 
fact was, I had taken advantage of the situation and 
held a series of meetings. The news didn't disturb 
Mrs. Harwood, for she had heard me say that I 
didn't know one card from another. That was true, 
and still is. When a very small boy at school, one 
of the boys one day gave me a card. When Mother 
found me with it, she snatched it out of my hands 
and threw it into the fire. As I watched it burning. 



—120— 
History o f Nezv Mexico 

in the old time fire-place, it made me think that the 
wicked one was in them, and I have never gotten 
over it. The great respect I have had for Mother 
has led me all through life to avoid knowing one 
card from another. I never tried to refute the story 
about the gambling, for it seemed to me to be too 
absurd to think of. Time passed on. Nearly a year 
after this, I was preaching at the same place, i 
noticed an elderly lad)/ in the congregation, who 
they said had come from Pueblo. Colo. She had 
come out several times, but would not wait to be 
introduced or to speak. I thought strange of t, for I 
had learned that she was a Methodist. About the 
third or fourth time, she came forward when the 
services closed and invited me to come to see hei 
that she had special business with me. I went. I 
was surprised, chagrined and mortified, when she 
told me what she had heard, and said she believed it 
until while I was preaching that day. She said some- 
thing seemed to say to her that it was all a lie, "and 
now," she said, "I want jow to tell me the truth 
about it." As bad as I felt I could hardly keep from 
laughing when she told me that the boys had told 
her that the preacher would gamble. That he would 
"sometimes preach a good sermon at night and then 
go in and play cards or go into the dance room and 
dance all night." Then she said, "I believed it un- 
til today when you were preaching." When I ex- 
plained to her about the card that my mother threw 
into the fire, and that through respect for her, I had 



Spanish 



-121- 
and English 



Missions. 



always avoided knowing one card from another, and 
that she also always opposed the dance and no one 
of her four boys or three daughters ever attended a 
ball, and that I was just as much opposed to dancing 
as she was. and never in all my life had gone pur- 
posely to a ball, she said. "I believe every word you 
say," and seemed to feel bad that she had allowed 
herself to believe what the boys had told her proba- 
bly in fun. 

The Pueblo Conference. 

Time passed, school closed, the church building at 
Elizabethtown was nearly finished, the June Colo- 
:ado Conference was drawing near, and our building 
at Tipton's was also pushing toward completion. 
Father Dyer had gone to the Conference via Cone- 
jos, Ft. Garland to Pueblo where the Conference was 
to be held, commencing June 23, 1870. I went up 
via Ft. Union, Red River, Trinidad and thence to 
Pueblo. 

Conference Moll Call. 

The Colorado Conference was organized in 1864. 
The session at Pueblo was its eighth session. 
Thirteen preachers answered to the roll call. It had 
four presiding elder districts, and consequently four 
presiding elders. Denver, South Park, Wyoming 
and Santa Fe. with 582 members and 182 proba- 
tioners. The Wyoming district had 34 members and 
9 probationer?, and the Santa Fe district, 15 mem- 
bers. eiQfht of which were at La Junta, and seven at 
Santa Fe. The Utah Conference was organized in 



\22 — 

History of Neiv Mexico 

Salt Lake City, August 10, 1877, with nine traveling 
and two local preachers, with one presiding elder 
district, 155 members of the church, 725 Sunday 
school scholars. 

The New Mexico Mission, twenty-two years ago, 
1884, the year the mission was divided into the 
English and Spanish, had 19 who answered at the 
roll call, 482 members and 137 probationers. Four- 
teen years ago, at this writing-, 1892, the New 
Mexico Spanish mission alone had 30 preachers; 
members 1204, and 762 probationers; 26 of our 
preachers had been ordained. We had 21 Sunday 
schools, and 500 scholars, and church property to the 
amount of $42,000. We wanted to organize into an 
annual confernce, but they wouldn't let us. Why? 
One in high authority said "You haven't the esprit 
de corps for a conference." Not any of our Mexican 
preachers heard it, or they likely would have called 
for an interpreter. We will likely have occasion to 
refer to this again before we get through this book, 
if we live to finish it. 

At the roll call the following" named answered : 
j. L. Dyer, B. F. Vincent, Geo. Murray, G. D. 
Adams, W. F. Adams, W. F. Warren, J. H. Beards- 
lev, Geo. Wallace, G. W. Swift, Jesse Smith, J. L. 
Peck, O. P. McMains, F. C. Brooks and W. M. 
Smith. The Bishop announced that, Thomas liar- 
wood, from the West Wisconsin Conference, had 
been transferred to this conference, also L Hart- 
sough. G. W. Pierce and J. R- Moore from the New 



123- 

SpcDiish an J English Missions. 



York Central Conference; and VV. Dempster Chase 
and F. C. Millington, from Rock River Conference. 
1 nime the above not because they belong to the his- 
tory that I am writing, but because I was a member 
ni the Colorado Conference quite a number of years, 
and they all became men of mark in the church. 

I must say, as I looked over that conference that 
morning and could see only three faces upon which 
I Ivtd ever looked before, Bishop Ames, Father Dyer 
and the book agent, J. M. Walden (now Bishop) I 
felt a little lonely. My mind slipped back several 
times that morning to our beautiful Wisconsin and 
the large conference from which I had so recently 
come, and the many whom I knew so well. I thought 
of our sad parting with preachers and laymen ki 
other places whom I had long known, and not a rip- 
ple of unpleasantness had ever occurred, so far as I 
knew, with any of that noble body of preachers and 
myself. The scene comes before me now while pen- 
ning these lines. The scenes of that closing confer- 
ence at Portage, October 4th, 1869, is still fresh be- 
fore me. 

The following touching resolution had been 
passed : 

''Wheras, We understand that our brother, 
Thomas Harwood is to be transferred from this to 
the Colorado Conference; therefore be it 

"Resolved, That we hereby express our high ap- 
preciation of his valuable services among us. We 
r e^ret the necessities of our frontier work which 



-124 - 
History of New Mexico 

rest upon him and his companion in his far off held. 
"Signed — 

E. E. Springer, 

H. GlLLILAND, 

J. Medd." 

Bishop Scott read the follow ing closing conference 
hymn : 

"And let our bodies part 
To different climes -repair 
Inseparably joined in heart 
The friends of Jesus are." 
After which the writer was called forward and 
closed the conference by prayer. 

The Bishop pronounced the benediction. 
Then followed the general hand-shaking and the 
farewells. The venerable Bishop and many of that 
noble band of a hundred and eleven members of that 
conference have been called home, and only a few of 
whose faces have I seen since, but in my heart they'll 
live for ever. But back to the 

New Conference. 

That is to say, it was new to me; but soon became 
intensely interesting. Bishop Ames w^as very kind. 
As he had asked me to come to New Mexico, he 
seemed to take special interest in all I said about the 
work in this field. He asked me "whether I could 
preach in Spanish yet?" I answered, "No, it is about 
all T can do to preach a sermon in English," but I 
said "I am studying the language, and like it very 
much/' Tie asked me about the work down there. I 



-125— 

Spanish and English Miss-ions. 

told him the "native people made me think of a little 
boy in one of my schools in Delaware. He evident- 
ly wanted me to praise him for having learned so 
fast. I asked the little fellow to show me in his 
book where he was when he started to school to me. 
Tie said 'he didn't remember, but he knew he was 
not up to his a, b, c's.' So I find the great majority 
of the Mexican people down in Xew [Mexico, intel- 
lectually, morally and religiously, they are not up to 
their a, b, c's," but said, "I like the people and be- 
lieve that something can be made of , them." I 
spoke of Mrs. Harwood's day school and Sunday 
school work. How delighted she was with it. At 
all of which the Bishop seemed pleased. Bishop 
Walden has always said that he dated his interest in 
the Spanish work at that conference from my re- 
port. I spoke of the church building at Elizabeth- 
town. That we were building at that place and ex- 
pected to dedicate the building on my way home if 
Father Dyer could go up there on our way home. 
The building will cost about $2,000. Also at La 
Junta, or Tiptonville as we now began to call it, we 
are putting up a building that will cost about $4,000. 
The Church Extension Society at Philadelphia is 
aiding us $250 at each of these places. The confer- 
ence passed some nice resolutions in favor of Mrs. 
Harwoods's school work. 

The Appointments. 

The conference was all interesting and closed up 
Sunday night by reading the appointments. 



-126- 
Hi story of New Mexico 

1 noticed in the Bishop's remarks at a certain 
place he kept his eyes rather toward me, and said 
among other things, that "We have done the best we 
could in the appointments, but there was one brother 
with whom he sympathized very much," but then 
lifting his voice quickly, said, "but you will not be 
left in New Mexico alone Brother Harwood," "for 
He who said, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
the end of the world," will be with you, Brother 
Harwood. in New Mexico." 

This last was the first intimation that I had had 
of being left alone in New Mexico. At first it was 
a great disappointment to me. I had known Father 
Dyer in Wisconsin. We iiad worked together there, 
and we seemed very much attached to each other, 
and New Mexico was a hard responsible work and 
the thought of being alone in such a field and to be 
deprived of the company and counsel of such a friend 
was too much. The change was unlooked for by 
l ather Dyer. The following Monday he rode with 
me a whole day's journey, from Pueblo to Pishapa. 
Before I leave this part of this work, I would like 
to name that the next year and the year following 
quite a number of transfers were made. With the 
number I will name R. W. Bosworth, W. F. Map- 
pan. H. C. Waltz, P. McNutt, T. R. Sheer, B. F. 
Crary. I. H. Merritt, J. M. Lambert, H. S. Shaffner, 
N. S. Buckner, C. A. Brooks and J. Stocks. 

On my way home from the conference went up to 
Elizabethtown and dedicated the new church, July 



—127- 

Spamsh and English Missions. 

3, 1870. There was no other preacher, so I had it all 
10 myself. However the people seemed pleased. It was 
our first Methodist church building in New Mexico, 
and the first church that I had ever dedicated, and 
(he second one of any Protestant denomination so 
tar as we then or now know. The second church 
dedicated by us was our church and school building 
at Tiptonville. This was dedicated in November, 
They were both practically out of debt. 

The school opened early in the fall in the new 
building. It was a sight worth seeing to see chil- 
dren. Mexican, American and mixed, from all direc- 
tions, coming over the prairies, down the canyons, 
over the hills, some on burros, some in carts, some 
(mi Mexican ponies, some in buggies, and of course 
some on foot. We had about 60 school boys and 
girls. H 

Algodones. N. M., Oct. 15, 1871. 
' rs. Harwood. 

My Dear Wife: This is Sunday morning, and 
you will see from the above, that we are not at 
Peralta. We are about 25 miles from Albuquerque, 
and about 40 or 45 miles from Peralta. 

It stormed the whole day we were at La Bajado, 
and yesterday the roads were bad, and we only made 
21 miles. Passed through two Indian towns — Santo 
Domingo and San Felipe. They are pueblos. 
Country pretty well farmed by them. 

Well, von ask, reasonably enough. "What will 



— 128— 
History oj Xezv Mexico 

you do today " and I answer "I don't know!' We 
surely will not travel nor be idle all day. 

Fortunately, we have a fine lot of Bibles and 
tracts. I got a good supply from Dr. McFarland. 
I think we shall start out pretty soon and see how 
the people will receive them. 

1 have distributed some dozen of Bibles and Tes- 
taments, and probably six times as many tracts. All 
so far have been received very cordially. One old 
blind lady said to me, on receiving a Bible and tract 
for her grandson: (i Mucliisimas gracious, mil gra- 
cias:' — That is, a thousand thanks. 

The family with whom we are stopping in this 
town is the only American family anywhere around, 
and they were brought up Catholics. They were 
from Texas, and have be^n here about twelve years. 
T think likely they have not improved much. 

Well, we are boarding ourselves, and living quite 
independent — fruit, melons, etc. You would laugh 
to hear Benito trying to trade with them for melons 
and such like — not today, but yesterday. He 
bought three nice melons for ten matches. A feed 
of corn for the ponies for four matches. We have 
just eaten one of the melons. I think the best I ever 
ate. I saved the seed. We will name them after 
the town, and call it: "The Santo Domingo Melon." 

Well, indeed to be at La Junta this beautiful Sab- 
bath morning would seem like civilization compared 
with this town and its surroundings. 

It is situated on both sides of the Rio Grande, 



—129- 

Spamsh and Knxlish Missions. 

and judging from the looks of the old walls, houses. 
Catholic church, ets.. it must be — I like to have said, 
"a thousand years old," but I guess 200 will do. 

i hope the Lord may bless our visit here in some 
way for good, though the prospects are dark to me. 
^ ou can hardly realize the disappointment to me of 
having to spend the Sabbath at such a place as this. 

1 'ray for us. 

Respectfully, from 

Youb Husband. 



How Xew Mexieans Keturn From Co 1 itrence. 

Rev. Thomas Harwood writes from La Junta, 
New Mexico, August 12, 1871 : 

As we were returning from the late Colorado 
Conference, held at Denver, Colo., we met wdth a 
memorable accident. Rev. X. S. Buckner and lady 
were in company with me, on their way to their new 
appointment at Elizabethtown, in this Territory, and 
I was returning to La Junta *mission. We had 
been on the road six days, had traveled about three 
hundred miles, and were within a day's travel of 
their destination, when, about four miles of Cimar- 
mon City, a little before sunset on August 4, we en- 
countered a terrific thunder storm. The lightning 
struck our buggy and probably ran down the steel 
snrines that held the top up, tore up two great holes 
in the ground right under the buggy, broke the whif- 
fletrees, knocked the horses down, and for some 
time badly shocked and paralyzed all of us. Mrs. B. 



130 

History oj New Mexico 

was sitting on the right side of the buggy, 1 on the 
ieit, ana j_>ro. d. in the middle, driving. 1 remem- 
ber the hash of lightning, the terrible crash of thun- 
der, a kind of sulphuric odor, the falling of the 
horses, and a peculiar deathlike sensation that ran 
through my system, and there was a short pause of 
insensibility. We were all badly hurt, but the ef- 
fects seemed different upon each. I was severely 
stunned and paralyzed, and lay on the roadside in 
the drenching shower several minutes unable to 
speak. I knew what I wanted to say, but terms and 
names were gone. I could not think of Bro. Buck- 
ner's name so as to speak it. Sister B. was worse 
hurt than any of us, and had great difficulty of 
not so badly hurt, but seemed for a moment to be 
helpless, chained to the buggy seat. Sister B. and 
1 rolled out of the buggy somehow while he was 
crying to her, "hold # on, and I will help you out," 
and could scarcely move a muscle himself. Sister 
B. savs she had but three thoughts, ''husband, home, 
death/' 

While lying on the ground so helpless, much of 
my life passed before me in quick review, but my 
mind soon settled upon three thoughts — "My 
Saviour, my urifc, my zvork." He w r as present, she 
was absent, and it, the Mexican work, came before 
me in glorious beauty, for I knew that God could 
"bury His workmen and cary on His work/ 1 
While Bro. B. was not hurt as badly as either of us, 
I think his sufferings were greater. For a few mo- 



- 131 

Spanish and English Missions. 

ments his mental sufferings must have been intensely 
severe; for it seemed to him that she who had so 
recently left father and mother in Illinois to share 
iier husband's ministerial toils and labors in this far 
off field, must die on the roadside. I had to weep 
when I saw him lay her down with a tearful kiss 
commending her to God, and then ran for the 
horses that were frantically staggering away across 
the prairie, for it occurred to him we must have a 
doctor, and would better get the horses while they 
were in reach. How I wanted to tell him that she 
would soon be better, but my power of speech was 
yet in a mysterious jumble. As soon as we were 
able to walk, we started, leaving horses and buggy, 
and under the blazing lightnings and almost deaf- 
ening thunder, muddy, wet and barefoot, we made 
our way three miles to the nearest American house, 
and thence in wagon to Cimarron City. The horses 
and buggy were brought in at about midnight. But 
the next day we had to leave them for recovery and 
repairs, and took the stage for Elizabethtown, where 
we spent the Sabbath in our neat little church build- 
ing. Bro. B. preaching in the morning and I at night, 
and both feeling deeply impressed with the great- 
ness and goodness of God. 

Bro. B. said that I had reported a certain number 
of members, and he could only find half that num- 
ber. That was a fact ; I reported two, and while at 
conference one moved away, and so only one-half 
of the church was left. I was pleased to see the 



-132— . * 

History of New Mexico 

business men of the place manifest so much interest. 
Like old stewards, they remained after church to 
consult as to the best mode of collecting the preach- 
er's salary. They thought monthly payments in 
advance would be best, and drew their papers ac- 
cordingly, saying they intended to pay their preach- 
er. Monday morning found Bro. B. all right, ex- 
cept, like the rest of us, a few blisters and scars 
w here the lightning scorched and seared the flesh. 
But Sister B. was quite sick; had some hemorrhage, 
was unable to sit up much of the time, but seemed 
cheerful and happy. God bless them in their new 
and distant field of labor. Let us not forget the 
Saviour's command: "Be ye also ready; for in such 
p n hour as ye think not the Son of Man comethT 
Thus we were pleasantly journeying along, watch- 
in gthe gathering storm, and indeed were discussing 
the peculiar nature of electricity, when, as quick as 
thought, the flash and crash were upon us, the horses 
down and we almost lifeless by the roadside. Had 
this been death, there was no time for prayer, for 
thought or for reflection. 

1 87 1 . 

I see that we must begin to shorten up or 
our book will be full almost before we get started. 

At the beginning of this year I open my diary to 
^ee where I was, and how I began the year, so I will 
read : 

La Junta, New Mexico, Enero i, 1871. 



Spanish and ling I is h Missions 



Estc dia ha sido bonito, clara y color. Here I 
niust stop and laugh at my Spanish. What I want- 
e ! to Say in English was. "This has been a nice, 
clear, warm day." What I did say or writ* was, 
"This day lias been pretty, clear, and heat." I ought 
to have used the word calicnte, or calurosa or 
caloroso, the adjective instead of the noun. Also 
Prcdico a La Junta en mieva cscucla casa del texlo : 
"Que es el hombreV Sal 8:6. I wanted to say that I 
preached at La Junta in the new school house from 
the text "What is Man?" I ought to have written: 
'Prcdiqne en la casa nueva de la cscucla del tcxto, 
"Que cs c! hombreT' Also 

Enero 2, 1871. 
fi Yo fori en la cscucla para ensenar: Tenemos cerra 
dc eineuenta disci pulos. Yo fen go los Mexicanos y 
la Sen or a Harzvood los Americanos. I was in the 
school to teach today. YYe have about fifty scholars. 
1 have the Mexicans and Airs. Harwood the Ameri- 
cans. 

I think this will do for the Spanish. I still love 
the? language and am preaching in it a little. 

My First Sermon in Spanish. 

Early in the- year I prepared my first sermon in 
Spanish from the text Matt. 11 128, "Come unto me, 
all ye; that labor and are heavy laden and I will give 
you rest," etc. I had thought I would preach from. 
u Thou shalt not steal," but I had nearlv forgotten 
about my saddle-bags, and the discipline (page 83) 
that had been stolen, and several other things, I had 



-134— 
History of New. Mexico 



seen that many of the poor Mexican people were 
really a burden-bearing people, and I learned to sym- 
pathize with them very much. 1 had seen the Pen- 
itentes carving their great wooden crosses on their 
bare shoulders, whipping themselves with cactus 
whips, as well as, paying large sums of money for 
baptisms, burials, marriages, confessions, etc., as 
well also as the tenth of their crops and herds and 
fleeces, and my heart had been touched to sympathy 
rather thin hardened to blame, and so my first ser- 
mon was on "Bearing Burdens and finding Rest in 
Jesus, the World's great burden-bearer." I had 
already read the Spanish New Testament with Mex- 
ican readers a greH deal, and felt that I could read 
it pretty well. I wrote this sermon myself, but had 
it corrected. I had it corrected about three times. 
I began to mistrust that one fellow would try to im- 
prove on the other, and finally I re-wrote it all and 
was then ready to begin to use it. At Ocate (ac- 
cent on the last syllable) I stopped with a promi- 
nent politician, but a Roman Catholic. He told me 
that the people all said that he was a son of Padre 
Martinez, but I said: "How is that?" "I thought the 
priests never marry." He didn't know, but that is 
what they all say. He then brought out the father's 
picture and asked me if I thought he looked any- 
thing- like the picture? I said, "You look very much 
alike." It seemed to please him. Finding that he 
was a pretty good Spanish scholar. I had him also 
look my sermon over. He pronounced it nice. 



— 135- 

Spanish and English Missioiis. 

W hile looking it over, we heard something like a 
drum or tin pan or something, and found it was a 
procession of men, women and children, but mostly 
women. They had quite a large image hoisted upon 
someone's shoulders. I asked, "What in the world 
is all that?" My friend answered "That image is San 
isidro, the village saint. I asked, what are they go- 
ing to do with the old fellows? Mr. Valdez said, 
"You know it is a very dry time, and he is their 
patron saint, and they have him out with their drum 
and tin pans calling for the rain/' Well, does the 
lain ever come after they are out this way? "Yes," 
nearly always, said my friend. "-Well, how is that? 
You don't believe in such foolishness as that, do 
\oti?*" "No, / don't but nearly all the Mexican peo- 
ple do." And it wouldn't do for you to speak a word 
against the saint. "You may curse their God," said 
lie, "hut don't speak a word against their saint or 
you will be likely to get hurt, if not killed." But, 
"don't you think my sermon is very appropriate, es- 
pecially w here I speak of the burden of errors, ig- 
norance and superstition?" "Yes, very appro- 
priate." 

The Seh< ol As-ain. 
The winter was rapidly passing. The school was 
doing well. We had quite a number of real nice 
voting boys and ^irls boarding with us. A first- 
clasps man and his wife in charge of the boarding 
department, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsdale. Mrs. Har- 
wood had quite a number of young ladies working 



— 136- 
History oj New Mexico 

for their board. They had nearly all become relig- 
ious. Sunday schools and preaching services well 
attended. We always opened the school with scrip- 
ture reading, singing and prayer. In addition to that, 
we had our evening stud} hours and prayer. Mrs. 
liar wood was never hanoier in her work before 
this. The responsibilities were great, but that only 
made the work more elating. When I was at home 
that winter (and I spent the most of December, Jan- 
uary and February at home) I taught the most of. 
the Mexican boys in a separate room. As a rule, 
they were very nice. I had one big boy, however, 
who would fight whenever he had a chance. I had 
chicled him often, but had not whipped him. One 
morning a boy smaller than this one came with two 
of his front teeth broken out. He had been fighting, 
but fought in self-defense with that other boy. The 
other fellow struck him in the mouth with the din- 
ner pail. I sent for a rope. The Mexican people 
those early days were more afraid of a rope than 
the}' were of pistols. The rope seemed to scare him. 
I fixed a noose somewhat like a lariat, put it over 
his head and around his neck, looked up for a place 
to throw the rope over to draw him up. He be- 
gan to cry. He said he "wouldn't fight any moae." 
He always behaved himself after that.. 

A Funeral From the School. 

We had a little American boy in school, Willie 
Kroenig. His father was one of the wealthiest men 
in tile territory. He was a German boy. We called 



—137— 

Spanish and English Aft ss ions. 

every one American in the territory those days who 
was not Mexican. His mother had died, leaving a 
daughter and son. The father had married again a 
half-breed native woman, a daughter of the Honor- 
able S. B. Watrous, who came to New Mexico about 
1835. They were raising a large family, but were 
trying to give the first children special advantages. 
The boy was unusually bright, good at home and a 
model little student at school. Mrs. Harwood 
thought the world of the little fellow. His father, 
Win. Kroenic, was very skeptical. Claimed that he 
didn't believe the Bible or hardly anything else, a 
German Rationalist. The boy died. His father 
sent for me to preach the funeral sermon. It was 
embarrassing to me, the father a half a millionaire, a 
rank skeptic and all the large family Roman Catho- 
lics except himself and the oldest daughter, but I 
preached just as I would if they had all been mem- 
bers of my church. The father never ceased to 
make pleasant mention of that funeral service, and 
the kind things I said about his little boy, Willie. 
He thanked Mrs. Harwood for the beautiful hymns 
we sang. It was he who had opposed the reading 
of the Bible in the school. It was his opposition prin- 
cipally that had led Mrs. Harwood to say in one of 
our school meetings that she "Would not teach a 
school where she could not read the Bible when she 
wanted to. Sing when she wanted to and pray when 
she wanted to." This funeral made us life-long 
friends with Mr. Kroenic and his family. I never 



138- 

History oj New Mexico 

heard of his objecting to our reading the Bible in 
school after that. I was at his house a little before 
he died. I had prayers with him. He kneeled with 
me in prayer. After the prayer, he said, "Mr. Har- 
wood, I thank you for that prayer." 

Another Funeral oi* a Student. 

This was a young Mexican man, a Roman Cath- 
olic, but a nice polite boy. At the close of the win- 
ter term, he wrote on his slate saying that he could 
not come back to school; that he would have to help 
his father with the spring work. He thanked Mrs. 
Harwood and me for our kindness to him. Prom- 
ised to come to our Sunday school and church ser- 
vice. He said, "I am a Catholic, but that is all 
right, I like your school and will be back next win- 
ter/' He went home, took pneumonia and died very 
suddenly. I went to see him, but he was dead 
when I reached his home. It was night, the neigh- 
bors had come in. I went into the room where he 
was laid out. He was on a large table, and candles 
burning all around him. It looked strange to me. 
They had made small adobes of clay, about the size 
of a brick. I think there were twenty-four in all, 
one at the head and one at the feet, a candle in each, 
and dimly burning. The next day I was at the 
grave. The boy's father asked me to say something, 
but the people were nearly all Mexicans, and as I 
could not venture to speak in Spanish, I read our 
Methodist Ritual in English. The father and others 
thanked me. It was a very pretty burial. In another 



-139— 

Sfiauis/i and English Missions. 

part of the cemetery a few people were burying an- 
other Mexican man. The grave was deep, no coffin, 
not a board of any kind. A place was excavated for 
the h^ad. Two men got down into the grave, others 
handed the dead man down. He was taken, laid 
upon the bare ground, with his head drawn up into 
the place excavated for it, an adobe placed over his 
breast, hiding his face, the men were helped up, and 
the flirt and heavy clods thrown down upon the body 
so hard I thought I could almost hear his bones 
break. I had never seen one buried without a coffin 
before except in the army, and there if there were 
no coffin or boards, we generally broke off branches 
of the trees or shrubs where there was any shrub- 
bery near, and flowers when we could get them, and 
then we would let the earth down lightly upon the 
body until it was finally covered. 

A short time after that, at Mora, I saw a woman 
1 uried in the same way, without a coffin or any re- 
ligious service whatever. I could stand it to hear 
? dead man's ribs break by the falling clods, but to 
c ee a woman buried that way was too much. I asked 
"Why bury a woman in this cruel way?" An old 
Mexican put down his shovel and asked, "Porque, 
Senor, tenia Jesus Cristo una caja?" Why, Sir, 
did Jesus Christ have a coffin?" 

Some time after this the Mora priest heard about 
the Protestant heretic going into the cemetery and 
reading the Methodist Ritual over the school boy. 
fie came down in great haste to see what it meant. 



—140— 
History of New Mexico 

He gathered the people together with the boy's par- 
ents and relatives and went to the old broken-down 
cemetery and reconsecrated it. The father knew it 
would cost something, and that he would have to 
pay it, so he secured from J. B. Watrous, a mer- 
chant, and for whom the poor man often worked, 
quite a number of silver dollars (so said Mr. Wat- 
rous), so that he could pay the priest for his ser- 
vices. When it was all finished, he asked, "Father, 
how much do I owe?" The priest replied, "I ought 
to charge a hundred dollars, but as you didn't know 
any better, pay me nine dollars." The poor old man 
counted out the money and said, "Father, I can't 
look into your heart, nor into the heart of the other 
man, but he did more than you have done, and he 
didn't charge me anything, and you charge me nine 
dollars, here it is, take it." The priest wheeled on 
his heel and left. All the above I received from the 
poor boy's father, corroborated by the Roman Cath- 
olic neighbors and others. 

Commencement Exercises. 

The entire neighborhood had united on the school 
and were sending, making the number enrolled 
about seventy students. The principal patrons of 
the school were W. B. Tipton, W. Kroenic, G. W. 
Gregg, S. W. Watrous, J. B. Watrous, W. H. 
Moore, Enoch Tipton, James Johnson, Trinidad 
Lopez* Bernardo Salazar, Julian Baca, J. B. Collier, 
Charles Williams, William Strong, J. J. Chand- 
ler, etc., and quite a number of Mexican families 



-141— 

Spants/i and English Missions. 

— the Temples, Pascoes, Anderson. On the close of 
the Spring- term, quite a number of the parents and 
others came to witness the examination of their 
children, and all seemed delighted with the school. 
Some of the children had come to board with us 
from a long distance. Some from the Rio Grande 
country, from Elizabethtown, Cimarron, Ocate, 
Taos. One young lady and her brother came on 
horseback over a hundred miles, camping out on the 
way; at a time, too, when the Indians were bad. 

Ciruelita And My First Visit There. 

This was a small town on the east side of Turkey 
mountains, about 20 miles from Tiptonville. There 
was a spring and a beautiful grove of plum trees. 
Early in the Spring I went over there to baptize a 
babe. At that time it was a kind of rendezvous for 
ruffians. One of the neighbors told me that if I 
went over there, I would better take along a chain 
and lock to lock my buggy wheels, and have my 
horses well secured. All this I did, taking the 
horses through the house into the back yard. The 
next morning the man with whom I stopped, and 
whose babe I baptized, said, it was well I had my 
buggy locked, for some one tried to pull it away. 
One of our nighbors had lost a buggy the year be- 
fore, stolen by someone, and he never heard of it 
after that. All the towns out here, they say, have 
a patron saint. San Isidro is the farmer's patron 
saint, and had also been chosen for this little plum 
town. In my early visit to this place, the plum 



-142- 
History of New Mexico 

grove was beautiful, and I have seen the trees fairly 
loaded down with nice wild plums. But at present 
the trees are nearly all dead, and it is said that, "San 
Isidro doesn't stand as well in the estimation of the 
Mexican people as he used to." But you ask, in all 
sincerity, "Do you believe the native people believe 
ill their saints?" That they all do, of course not, and 
we should always bear that in mind w T hen we speak 
of the Mexican people. There are always noble ex- 
ceptions, but that the great majority of the people 
did at that time, and many do yet, I firmly believe. 

We had organized a small church at Tiptonville, 
and organized here at Cerruelita that same Spring. 
It was here I heard first of all, of Benito Garcia. 
His brother-in-law, Julian Mitchell, whose babe I 
baptized, told me about him. He was about a hun- 
dred miles away herding sheep. I wrote to him. It 
was my first letter in Spanish. He came over. We 
arranged for him to come to school. He was soon 
made a helper, and licensed to preach. He became 
one of our leading preachers among his own peo- 
ple, lived a faithful, consistent life. 

Verrnejos, Cixnv Creek vnd Red River, 

These phces were in my circuit last year, and I 
kept them up with an occasional visit and sermon 
for several years. There was a stage station at each 
place and a kind of headquarters for cattle men. 
The people always treated me well, called me 
"Parson/ ' and it seemed to me that many of them 
seemed to take pleasure in saying", "I am a Baptist, 



—143— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

and I am from Texas," and sometimes a woman 
would say, "I was a Reb ? " and another, "Yes, so 
was I, and I am a Reb yet." On that subject, 1 
never allowed myself to quarrel with the women, I 
had enough of that during the Civil War. The sub- 
ject would often come up with the men. It was not 
common in an early day in New Mexico to find 
many men who were in the Civil War for the gov- 
ernment. I happened to remark one time, not being 
able to chew hard bread very well, that "I broke out 
several of my teeth trying to chew Uncle Sam's hard 
lack in the army." At which he quickly asked, 
"Why, were you in the army for the government?" 
To which I quickly replied, "Yes, sir." He still 
more quickly said, "I wish to G — d you had broken 
out every tooth in your head." He was a bigger 
man than I, so we changed the subject. Time is a 
great teacher; he teaches the foolish to be wise; time 
is a great leveler, he levels dow<n error and brings- 
Hp truth ; time is a great ventilator, he blows away 
the chaff and leaves the pure grain. 

In one of these neighborhoods an aged lady took 
me down one time. They called her "Grandma." I 
think she thought I was proud. I don't know but 
that I was a little proud. I had rode that same 
beautiful pony, spoken of on page 59, when I was 
getirig ready for my first horseback trip. Up on the 
Vermejo, so close to the Raton mountain range, rid- 
ing up and down the valley, announcing the ap- 
pointment for that evening, breathing the mixture 



—144— 
History oj New Mexico 



of the plains and mountain pure air, feeling perhaps 
that I was monarch of all I surveyed, as there was 
no other preacher for miles away, as if there was 
something after me, I am afraid I did appear a little 
too modern. The next morning at breakfast, at the 
home of her son and daughter-in-law, the aged lady 
said to me, "Do you know what I thought last ev- 
ening, when I saw you galloping that pony over the 
hills and valleys so fast?" "No, I don't know what 
you thought," said I. "Well, I will tell you, I 
thought the time will come when we shall have out 
in this country, good old parsons like we had in 
Texas ; parsons who are parsons, plain men, dressed 
in their Kentucky jeans with a hand like your gran- 
ny's, that shows that they worked for a living, and 
not a little, tiny hand like yours, that shows that 
you never worked any." 

The Denver Conference and a Long "Buggy Ride With Mrs. 
Harwood. 

The Colorado Annual Conference for 187 1 was 
held at Denver, commencing July 20th. It was 
school vacation, and Mrs. Harwood wanted to go. I 
was pleased* with the thought, and w y e started early 
so as to fill all my appointments on the way and have 
quite an outing. 

Sunday, June nth, we spent at Ocate. We were 
the guests of a Mr. and Mrs. Strong. He was an 
Episcopalian, and she a Roman Catholic. They had 
had one of their boys boarding with us at school 
and we were more than welcome at their house. 
Had about twenty out to preaching. The next Fri- 



— 145- 

Spanish and English Missions. 

day we reached Ute Creek, and were the guests of a 
Mr. and Airs. John Finan. One of their daughters 
had attended our school, and of course we were wel- 
come there. On the way to Elizabethtown we made 
several calls or as the Discipline calls, "pastoral vis- 
its." I preached twice on Sunday at Elizabethtown. 
The 19th we reached Cimarron, and were the guests 
of Air. and Airs. Rinehardt, who were the witnesses 
ir. the Keyes- Maxwell marriage, thence to Verme- 
jo, thence to Crow Creek, thence to Red River, 
where we stopped with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stock- 
ton ; thence to Trinidad and were the guests of our 
friends, the Rev. E. J. Rice and wife, and we had a 
real nice visit ; thence to Pishapa, thence to Huer- 
fano, and thence up to the foot of the Greenhorn 
mountains to attend a camp meeting. As to num- 
bers, it was far fewer than our Wisconsin basket 
meetings, but we had good meetings. From the 
ramp meeting we went to or near to Canon City 
and spent a few days at the home of Bro. and Sister 
Fowler, where we were treated nicely; thence to the 
city where we made the acquaintance of Rev. N. S. 
Buckner and wife, and stopped with them a part of 
the time, and preached for him; He was the pastor. 
July 4th, we attended a picnic and heard a fine ora- 
tion from Hon. Mr from the South. 

He spoke on the 

Declaration of Independence. 

It was a fine eulogy, the speaker said it "seemed 
almost equal to inspiration," this Declaration of our 



—146- 
History oj New Mexico 

Independence, and won, said he, What shall we do 
with it V He began to lay down some principles that 
looked a little like going backward, and some of us 
feared that as he was a Southern man, he might 
spoil it all. A thunder storm had been gathering, 
and just as he seemed to be coming to the point to 
answer his question, What shall we do with this 
wonderful declaration of our American principles? 
as declared by our patriotic fathers, the big drops of 
lain began to dash upon the audience and into the 
speaker's face. The people were already hoisting 
umbrellas, and a few starting for their buggies and 
covered wagons, the speaker turned quickly and 
said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I can't compete with 
this thing." This ended the speaking, but the 
shower was soon passed, and the picnic not spoiled. 
The 5th we went on our journey, and spent the 
night at a ranch kept by a Mr. and Mrs. Booth. 
They were very fine people. Mrs. Booth was a 
graduate, I think of Oberlin, Ohio. She and Mrs. 
! larwood soon became very much attached. They 
seemed to appreciate our work in New Mexico. We 
spent several days with them. As usual we insisted 
on paying for the accommodations, but as in almost 
every other case, we could not prevail upon them to 
receive pay. From Mr. Booth's we came to the 
home of Rev. Mr. Rose of the Free Methodist, 
thence to Colorado City, and were the guests of Rev. 
Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Warren. He was a member of 
the Conference, and thence to the house of Mr. and 



— 147 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Airs. Geo. Murray Bro Murray was Presiding El- 
der of the Santa Ke district, as it was called by this 
rime, but I heard Bishop Ames tell him, "He need 
not go down into New Mexico/' that "Bro. Har- 
wood could take care of himself.'' But he made us 
a good visit in Xew Mexico, and we were pleased 
with him. At Canon City I preached once. We 
visited in the mountains, the Garden of the Gods, 
the Soda Springs and many places of interest. The 
loth brought us to Father Dye's ranch. He had a 
fine lot of cows, and had a dairy. He w r as married 
by this time, and his wife was very nice. His father 
was vet alive, and made his home with his son. 
We had a real nice visit with them. I preached 
once for him. Father Dyer was always very witty, 
quick in retort, and when I became acquainted with 
his father, who was a very old man, I could under- 
stand how naturally Father Dyer came by his wit. 
While there, close by, s >me man got into a difficulty, 
and one man was killed, and the preacher was sent 
tor to attend the funeral. When he was ready to 
start, his father, not hearing very well because oi 
his age, said, "John, where are you going?" "I am 
going out to attend that funeral of the man who was 
killed, " replied the son. "Why, is he dead," asked 
the father, to which Father Dyer replied, "If he 
wasn't dead, I guess we wouldn't have the funeral" 
And the father cooly replied, "Why, I presume not." 

The 17th brought us to Denver. The Conference 
opened 011 the 2Cth. Bishop Janes presiding. He 



— 148- 
History of New Mexico 

was a fine presiding officer. His Sunday sermon 
was grand. Saturday I called on the Bishop and 
laid before him the case of our brother, Benito Gar- 
cia. I told him it was a clear case, only he hadn't 
any education, but he was anxious to attend school 
and prepare for our Spanish work, but he has an 
invalid mother, and he is her only means of support. 
I snid, "Bishop, why could we not grant him a small 
missionary appropriation, carry him as a helper and 
Jet him attend school, hold meetings and exhort, and 
as soon as he is able, preach? In that way he can 
support his mother and attend school. We will help 
him all we can— $200 and our help will be sufficient." 
The Bishop thought we had no "precedents of that 
kind," but said, "Bro. Harwood, with your presen- 
tation of that case, we will try the experiment. " 
The $200 was granted. I also asked the Bishop to 
give us a preacher for Elizabethtown. He did so, 
ii 1 gave Rev. N. S. Buckner. I had met Bishop 
Janes before this in the Northwest Wisconsin Con- 
ference. He always impressed me as a wonderful 
preacher. Bishop Simpson said, "Bishop Janes was 
nne of the most remarkable men in the history of 
American Methodism, with no superiors and few 
equals/' 

Mrs. Harwood and I were the guests at this Con- 
ference of Rev. T. R. Sheer, pastor of St. James 
Church, and a son of the Rev. Henry Sheer, D. D., 
who wrote a strong work on Baptism. Mrs. Har- 
wood became acquainted with quite a number of the 



-149 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Denver Methodist ladies and wives of our preachers, 
whose acquaintance she always prized very highly. 
W e also met with Dr. Dalas D. Lore, who came to 
Xew Mexico in 1855. (See his letter, page 37.) 1 
also met Dr. S. F. Crary, whom I knew in Minneso- 
ta, and met him also when we were chaplains in the 
army. 

The appointments were read Sunday night, and 
the Conference adjourned. Rev. X. S. Buckner was 
appointed to Elizabethtown, New Mexico, and I to 
La Junta. 

The next day Mrs. Harwood took train for her 
home in Wisconsin to visit her mother and other 
relatives. On the same train were Dr. D D. Lore 
and wife, Dr. B. F. Crary and others. That left me 
alone with the buggy and the span of ponies So I 
offered to bring Bro. and Sister Buckner down with 
me. They were pleased with the thought. We 
came via Colorado City, Trinidad, Red River, Cim- 
arron and on to Elizabethtown. Near Cimarron, on 
the 4th of August, we encountered a terrible thunder 
storm. The lightning struck our buggy, knocked 
the horses down and hurt us very badly. (See the 
enclosed letter, printed in the Northwestern Christ- 
tan Advocate. I reached home. La Junta, the 8th, 
and found all well, only very lonely. 

Peralta My First Visit There. 

Mrs. Harwood had returned from her Wisconsin 
trip much refreshed in health, and opened her 
school late in September with more scholars than a 



-ISO— 
History of New Mexico 

year ago, and entered her work with new zeal. I 
had heard often of the few Protestants at Peralta. 
October 9th, Benito Garcia and I left Tiptonville for 
that place. Benito had lived on the Rio Grande, and 
was much pleased with the thought of a visit. The 
first day we reached Las Vegas, and camped at the 
house of a Mr. Green. The night was cold so near 
the mountains. We took breakfast at the house of 
Rev. and Mrs. John Annin, Mr. Annin was the 
Presbyterian minister at Las Vegas. He came to 
Las Vegas about two weeks before we reached La 
Junta. He had also opened a school the year before, 
and was doing well. From him I received a few tes- 
taments. I gave a testament to a Mexican at Teco 
]ote, and to others some Spanish tracts. We camped 
near San Jose on the Pecos river. The next day we 
came within about twelve miles of Santa Fe and 
camped. Found a Mexican there who said he be- 
lieved in Protestanism. He wanted a Bible. He 
had no money, so I gave him a Bible. He seemed 
glad to get it. We reached Santa Fe early next 
morning and took breakfast with Dr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Farland and renewed their acquaintance. We had a 
pleasant visit. Talked missionary work. They 
were glad to hear of our school work at Tiptonville. 
He gave me 18 English and Spanish testaments, six 
Spanish and about 5,000 pages of Spanish tracts. 
They seemed glad to have the opportunity to dis- 
tribute them. This was October 12th, and at night 
we had gone about 20 miles to La Bajado, where 



—.151- 

S punish and English Missions. 

we camped in-doors at the house of Eduardo Walsh 
and family, nice people who some years after that 
became helpers and teachers in our missionary work. 
It rained and snowed, and we were kept a day at La 
Bajado. We came on the next day, passing Santo 
Domingo, San Felipe and passed the Sunday at Al- 
godones. Here we distributed quite a number of 
tracts and left some Xew Testaments. I preached 
on read my sermon. I had only one, and that was 
lasting me pretty well. I read the sermon in the 
bouse of the justice of the peace, whose name was 
Meliton Vigil. About 40 people were present. At 
one of these Pueblos, I had quite a talk with one of 
the oldmen of the Pueblo. I should think he was 
about 70. I asked him about Montezuma. He said, 
"We all believe he will come back." I asked him 
Hi s idea about the age of the Pueblo. He said he 
had no idea. He said when he was a very small 
boy, he used to hear his grandfather talk about the 
Pueblos. They were old when his grandfather 
was a boy. This old man said he used to hear his 
grandfather speak about Montezuma's return. He 
said, "He would come from the sunrise, and when 
he comes, he will come in fine wagons, drawn with- 
out horses." It seemed that he had almost a proph- 
etic view of our present day civilization. On the 18th 
we reached the Ranchos of Albuquerque. Stopped 
with Don Lorenzo Montoya. He treated us very 
nicely. He had barrels of wine. He thought it 
Grange we wouldn't drink with him. I read my 



—152— 
History oj New Mexico 

sermon to him and must have left it, as I have neve* 
seen it since. We passed through Albuquerque and 
reached Peralta a little after dark. This was the 
17th. We passed our time at Bro. Ambrosio Gon- 
zales. He and his father seemed almost overjoyed 
to see a Protestant Methodist preacher. We looked 
up an interpreter, and I preached and organized tlie 
work, or rather reorganized, for Dr. Lore had or- 
ganized it in 1855. We had 42 members and pro- 
bationers on the list. This was evidence of the 
fidelity of this man, Brother Ambrosio Gonzales. 
Dr. Lore tells us, page 38, that he organized that • 
work in 1855, with 14 members and probationers, 7 
males and 7 females, and appointed Ambrosio Gon- 
zales class leader. Sixteen years had passed. I 
found them still faithful. This was a commendable 
gain in that length of time, when we consider the 
difficulties he had to encounter. Bro. Ambrosio 
told me all about the Bible that Dr. Nicholson left 
with him, and about Dr. Lore's visit. Bro. Ambrosio 
was encouraged in his work, was licensed to preach. 
We promised them an American preacher just as 
soon as one could be obtained and money to pay him. 
I was here only two days. I received a letter from 
Mrs. Harwood, saying that the Presiding Elder had 
come to Tiptonville, and wanted t6 see me very 
badly, so I at once arranged to return, and as I could 
go so much quicker on horseback than in the wagon, 
I concluded to borrow a saddle and cut across over 
the mountains and planes via Tijeras Canon, Canon 



— 153 

Spanish and English issions. 
Largo and Las Vegas, leaving the wagon for Bro. 
Benito and a son of Don Ambrosio, as he had con- 
cluded to come up to school. 

Friday, the 19th day of October, I left Peralta on 
one of the horses, but lost my way and camped at 
the foot of the high mountains where there were 
plenty of grass, water and wood. As I had been a 
land surveyor, had- surveyed in three states and one 
territory, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and New 
Mexico, I thought I could go anywhere; so when I 
found I had taken the wrong road, I didn't care 
much, as I thought I could come out somewhere, and 
so I did. I camped at the head of what the Mexi- 
cans called "Canon Inferno, " or Hell Canon. It 
was a lonely phce. The night seemed long. I 
kept a fire all night. Some time in the night the 
pony started up, ran toward the fire to the end of 
Vis lariat, snorting as if he had seen something 
frightful. I went out a short distance from the fire, 
but could see nothing, but next morning there were 
the fresh tracks of a bear, about the largest I had 
ever seen. The mountain was hard to 
climb, but a beautiful sight when I reached its 
height. The Rio Grande valley was in full sight, 
and a little further up, the great llanos in the east ap- 
peared with several beautiful lakes which seemed to 
nestle up near the foot of the mountains. They were 
the beautiful Manzanos or Apple mountains, in 
which, and over which and through which L was 
making my way. The lakes that I had seen that 
seemed so near were salt lakes probably twenty 



—154— 
History of New Mexico 

miles away. 

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, I had reached 
the foot of the sloping mountain and hill-sides, and 
found myself close to a ranch, to which I made my 
way. It was a temporal where a farmer had raised 
quite a fine crop of corn without irrigation. He and 
his Mexican wife were husking corn. While I was 
telling my experience, how I left Peralta yesterday 
morning and lost my way and camped away out 
there at the foot of those big mountains, the lady, 
true to Mexican customs, disappeared, and soon 
came back and asked me in to breakfast. Didn't she 
ask you, "If you had been to breakfast?" My, no, 
what was the use of asking that? She knew there 
was not a house between their place and Peralta, and 
where could I have got breakfast? Sure enough, but 
an American woman would have asked it. Yes, 
probably if she thought you had come down from 
the moon or Mars. But how was that? I thought 
the Mexican women would only cook a little at a 
time, and eat it all up at once? Perhaps so, but it 
took only a few minutes to have some warm tor- 
tillas, coffee and fried mutton, and it was gooa 
enough for a king. I found that this man was a 
Mr. William Pool.' I knew him far better after 
this. He has long since passed away, but his most 
charming wife, then in the prime of life, yet lives 
and makes her home at Chilili. She is still a Roman 
Catholic, but never fails to speak well of el Ministro 
Protestante, el Senor Harwood. The kind lady put 



— 155 — 

Sfantsh and English Missions. 

me up a lunch for my journey at that time, or [ 
might have perished of hunger. 

Mr. Pool said: "Do you see the brow of those hills 
away there, and the timber; not those near ones, but 
those away there in the distance?" "Yes." "Well, 
you will have to go by those." 

"Then the worst is yet to come?" How far is it? 
"Oh, don't know. If you have a good horse, about 
fifty miles; if not, about seventy. But you can make 
it by about 10 or n ojclock tonight; then by starting 
a little before light in the morning, you will reach 
water by 9 or 10 in the morning at San Diego, a 
little off the road." This was the 20th. I stopped a 
few minutes at Chflili and made the acquaintance ot 
Captain MacFee. He had quite a family of girls. 
The mother was Mexican. I soon learned that they 
knew our brother, Don Ambrosio Gonzales. They 
said that he had "baptized some of their children.' 7 
Of course he had no right to baptize. He was a 
justice of the peace much of the time, as such he 
could perform marriage services. I afterward called 
his attention to it. He said, "He knew he had no 
right to baptize the children," but said, "the parents 
would bring their children to me, and insist that I 
baptize them. There was no one else to baptize/' 
"What could I do?"? "Sure enough," said I. As 
there was no one else, and in the emergency, I am 
glad you did it." 

I passed Cibolo Springs and took a good drink; 
il would be the last until I reached San Diego, the 



—156 — 
History of New Mexico 

next day as I supposed. It was a hard ride. Reach- 
ed the timber about n at night, made a little fire 
for I was afraid to sleep without it, as I had learned 
that bears, mountain lions, --wild cats and wolves 
were quite plentiful over in that far out of the way 
region, as well as snakes, terantulas and centipedes. 
Too cold to sleep, not much wood, nor grass, nor 
water, just as I had been told. It was a hard night. 
t was thirsty, hungry, tired, sleepy, but couldn't 
sleep. I wished for the day. Before daybreak I was 
off on the dim road,; about light struck the Old Al- 
buquerque and Forts Sumner and Bascum road ; at 
to o'clock no water; 12 oclock none; San Diego I 
had passed the trail to the old place and didn't see 
it, but knew I was on the road that would turn, off 
for Antonchico on the Pecos river. Another night 
came, camped again, arose and traveled until morn- 
ing came, stopped and grazed pony. v Started again, 
so weak and tired . that I couldn't travel . out of a 
walk; head ached, back ached, tips parched ; it was 
Sunday morning, at about 10 a, m., ''..saw, at quite a 
distance, some cattle. I said to myself, "Where 
there is stock in this country, there is generalfy a 
herder," so I left the road and found the herder. I 
said, "Boy, I am almost dead for water/* "No 
comprericle. Muchacho, tengo mucha sed/ T The boy 
went with me to a spring about a half mile away. 
When I saw the water, the sparkling spring, I said 
to myself, "Salvation/" Salvation under the beauti- 
ful figure of water. I had never seen so much under 



—157— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

that figure before. Then after drinking a little, I 
said: "Tengo mucha hambre." I am very hungry. 
He said you stay here and drink and I will go up to 
my camp and fix you some dinner. Pretty soon I 
went to his little camp; no house, but only some 
pine boughs to make a shade. He soon had me some 
tortillas and coffee. Three years in the army we 
were often scarce of food. In the rear of Savannah, 
Ga., reduced to rice issued in the sheaf, but that was 
a luxury compared with conditions at this time. I 
laid down and rested and slept a few hours, and then 
the boy showed me the nearest house or town. It 
was down on the Pecos river between Antonchico 
and San Jose. This was the first house I had seen 
since I left Chilili, Friday, at about 10 a. m., and 
this was Sunday about 4 p. m. La Cuesta was the 
name of the town, where I passed the night. The 
next day I passed near the foot of Starvation Peak 
to Las ' egas, and on home that evening. But Bros. 
Murray and Miller had gone. I had made the dis- 
tance, which is nearly 200 miles, in five days, not- 
withstanding my hard experience. The Lord be 
praised. When I reached home I found 
Mrs. Hirwood getting along with the school nicely. 



— 158- 
History of New Mexico 



1872. 

THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1872, 

The General Conference of 1872 was held in 
Brooklyn. Certain reasons had convinced me that it 
would be better for New Mexico, to be under the 
management of the Missionary Society at New- 
York. Father Dyer had taken a great interest in 
New Mexico, had traveled over much of the Terri- 
tory and spent nearly a year at Elizabethtown, and a 
part of a year at Santa Fe, and he had proven him- 
e elf a friend and father to this writer and to New 
Mexico, and I had no fault to find of him, but I soon 
saw that what New Mexico needed was less travel 
and more down to hard church and school work 
among the people. 

Such a field as this is hard enough for the man 
who comes and goes, but it is still harder for the 



— 159 

Spanish and English Missions, 

one who settles down and stays. It is he who has 
the tug of war, the battles to fight. 

We soon found that New Mexico was not appre- 
ciated as it ought to have been even by the confer- 
ence itself. The reader will remember that New- 
Mexico had been a presiding elder district in the 
Colorado Conference from 1868 to 1872. 

Take the matter of appropriations for instance: 
The writer was not able to see why New Mexico, a 
purely missionary field, so remote from all necessary 
supplies, where all kinds of provisions were so high, 
with a membership of 59 persons, ten of these only 
Americans in 1871, have of missionary funds only 
$1,400, while Colorado with a membership of 1,030 
should have $6,525. We couldn't see why a preach- 
er's salary in Colorado should be made to average 
$800 a year, while in New Mexico only $500. The 
$800 surely was not too much, nor what it ought to 
have been, but the $500 was far too small. 

The question of salary has never bothered me 
much, but at the same time I used to allow the ques- 
tion to come, "Why was I asked to leave our beauti- 
ful Wisconsin, where the work of the ministry was z 
home in Paradise compared with the work in New 
Mexico at that time, while I was on a salary when 
I left of $700 and a nice parsonage and garden, al- 
together about $1,000 a year, to come to New Mex- 
ico at $600 the first year and no parsonage? No 
house in which to live only as I built it at my own 
expense, drawing and handling the rock for founda- 



—160— 
History of New Mexico 

tion, and adobes for the walls, until the blood from 
my worn fingers would stain the adobes? All this 
is true, but dear reader, think me not complaining 
— for what is a little blood oozing from one's finger:; 
compared to that blood which flowed so freely from 
the hands and feet and side of the crucified One? 

"Five bleeding wounds he bears 
Received on Calvary; 
They pour effectual prayers, 
They strongly plead for me, 
"Forgive me, Oh, forgive" they cry 
Nor let a ransom sinner die."' 

Suffice it to say that the General Conference cut 
off New Mexico from the Colorado Conference just 
as I asked it to do, and the Territory was made a 
mission known for a long time only as The New 
Mexico Mission, embracing the Americans and 
Mexicans of New Mexico. 

THE SCHOOL. 

The school was growing larger all the time, and 
the scholars were making rapid advancement. The 
examinations were a credit to the school and would 
have been a credit to any school of an academic 
grade anywhere. Mrs. Harwood was delighted 
with the school, as scholars were boarding with us 
from far and from near. Tt seemed to be an enter- 
ing wedge also into the missionary work as it open- 
ed many doors to our work that otherwise would ' 



—161— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

have been barred, the people nearly all being Roman 
Catholics. We badly needed more room for board- 
ing" scholars. I went to work at my own expense 
and erected a few extra rooms at a cost of $1,600. 
The Missionary Society helped us out after awhile, 
but never aided the school only in the buildings 
while Mrs. Harwood and I had charge of it. 
THE JESUITS ALARMED. 

The school was growing in numbers and interest 
far and wide. Also the Presbyterian School at Las 
Vegas under the management of the Rev. John A. 
Annin was growing popular. Archbishop Lamy 
of Santa Fe, and other priests, began to get alarmed 
and soon an effort was made by them to erect a 
school building and chapel on the west side of the 
river, the Mora, on the opposite side of the river 
and valley with the promise that they would close 
our school in six months after theirs should be open- 
ed. The people, both Protestant and Roman Catho- 
lics, seemed so well pleased with the Protestant 
school that but little could be collected in the neigh- 
borhood for their school. Help was obtained how- 
ever from other sources and the buildings were 
erected, the school was opened, a priest sent ami 
regular services established, and sharp competition 
followed. But reader, hold a moment for a 
LITTLE REFLECTION. 

I said sharp competition commenced. So it did, 
but the sharp contest was only between the schools 
and in the schools we more than held our own, but 



-162— 

History of New Mexico 

not in church work. The Protestant element was so 
indifferent to religions things, and so divided polit- 
ically, socially as well as religiously, that we could 
make no, or but little headway against such a strong 
church. We were often made to feel our weakness, 
almost alone, almost the only representative of our 
Church in the whole Territory, at different places as 
at Peralta for instance, where I could sometimes 
count 125 wagons and buggies at Church, not count- 
ing the many on foot, compared with our little 
handfull perhaps of fewer than a hundred; or per- 
haps when we could gather our people at quarterly 
meeting and baptize a few babes and may be receive 
a few persons into the Church and soon after per- 
haps read in the Roman Catholic papers of the 
bishop or archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church 
coming through the neighborhood of villages with 
numerous other Catholic clergy and confirming 
sometimes as many as 400 boys and girls at a single 
visit. But even now we are not so far removed 
from all that as some might suppose, for only last 
Sunday, Nov. 25, 1906, in Old Albuquerque, 472 
were confirmed according to the papers. The Albu- 
querque Evening Citizen of the 26th has the follow- 
ing: "Bishop Pitaval at Confirmation of Large 
Class. 472 received the Sacrament last Sunday. 
Beautiful ceremony in Immaculate Conception 
Church last night, when congregation taxed capacity 
of the building. The Right Rev. J. B. Pitaval, D. D. 
on Sunday administered the Sacrament of Confirma- 



—163— 

Spanish and Lnglish Missions. 

tion to three classes in the three Catholic Churches 
of Albuquerque with a total of 472 confirmed." 

Dr. Durbin and New Mexico 

"STERILE SOIL:' 

I think I had only had one letter from Dr. Dur- 
bin before the General Conference of 1872. That 
was a kind tender letter expressing the fact that I 
would find Xew Mexico a sterile soil. He refused 
re-election at the General Conference in 1872. He 
was a great man. He died in 1876. Bishop Simp- 
son said of Dr. Durbin that, "By his administrative 
power, his rare tact, his great prominence and pop- 
ularity, and his stirring eloquence, he aroused the 
church, and was eminently successful in the man- 
agement of the affairs of the Society. The receipts 
increased from 8100,000 to near 8700,000 a year." 
The Dr. seemed delighted in his letter to me that 1 
was having success in Xew Mexico. 

DR. DURBIN'S PRAYER. 

I presume the Dr. had forgotten all about his re- 
port in 1855 at about the time I was preaching my 
first sermon. In his report he said or seemed to ex- 
press almost as a prayer that some one "might be 
found who would give his life to the work, and make 
the New Mexican Mission the great and only enter- 
prise of his life, keeping out of all worldly schemes, 
and becoming an apostle to the Spanish population 
of that Territory. It is a work worthy of a great 
soul. Such a man to superintend, to preach in 
English and in due time to establish schools 



—164— 
History oj New Mexico 

would leave his illuminated mark on the page of the 
history of the church and of the present Territory 
and future State of New Mexico.'' 

Now I do not presume to be the one the great 
doctor prayed for as above quoted, but if I am not. 
the prayer is yet unanswered. A few things look a 
little strange. At about the same time that that ex- 
pressive prayer was being made, I was just com- 
mencing to preach. Thirteen years after that Bishop 
Ames asked me to consent to be sent to New Mex- 
ico, giving as his reasons that Father Dyer had ask- 
ed it on the ground of former acquaintance and of 
the experience that Mrs. Harwood and I had had in 
school work. The next year, 1869, Bishop Scott 
transferred me. Now when I call to mind Mrs. 
Harwood's fine education, her ability and exper- 
ience as a teacher, coupled with her strong personali- 
ty and her deep piety and consecrated life to mis- 
sionary work, as well as my own experience as a 
teacher, five years in Delaware and nearly the same 
in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and my experience as 
land surveyor in Michigan, Minnesota and Wiscon- 
sin, and three years of army life as soldier ard 
chaplain, and the further fact that we had no chil- 
dren to tie us down to better school privileges than 
we could have in New Mexico, and the great work 
that Mr^ Harwood did as a teacher out here T am 
almost inclined to indulge the hope that we were 
the ones prayed for. As I said before, if we were 
not, then the prayer has never been answered. All 



— 165— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

the above experience, coupled with the fact that I 
read the History of the Mexicau War ai d the His- 
tory of South America while teaching in the State 
of Delaware and boarding with a local Methodist 
preacher, Joel Clements, in the years 1848 and 
1849, and learned much about the Mexican people, 
looks still more as if a kind providence was leading 
me along in the line of preparation for this work m 
all those years, although I knew not of the Doctor's 
prayer until a few years ago. I would rather be as- 
sured that we were the ones prayed for by the Doc- 
tor than to have discovered a gold mine and be- 
come a millionaire. As'to whether I have kept aloof 
from worldly schemes let others answer. I will 
say, however, that I have almost upbraided myself 
sometimes for not having picked up something that 
might have enriched my purse more than I have. I 
remember one preacher, of another denomination, 
who in one year took up a mine and developed it 
and sold it for about $20,000. He took that money, 
found another mine that promised rich returns, took 
in a partner, bought machinery and involved him- 
self in debts that yet remain unpaid. So I am glad 
after all that I have "kept clear of worldv scheme-." 
PEXITEXTE3. 
I have heard of "penitents'" in the Roman Cath- 
olic Church, the white, the black and the blue. -and 
the gray. I had heard and read of scourging anil 
the flagellants a^ they existed in the 12th and 16tn 
centuries but I had never heard of the Penitentes of 



—166— 
History oj New Mexico 

New Mexico until I came out here, and then I 
could not believe the half I had heard until I went 
to see for myself,*and then I said, "The half has 
never yet been told." So as Good Friday was ap- 
proaching that year, I concluded I would go out 
where it was said they would be. 

ALONE IN THE MORADA. 
I said "alone." I mean chat I was the only Am- 
erican in the house with the Penitentes, and I pre- 
sume the only one ever permitted to enter from what 
I have since learned. As I rode up, one came out 
and waved his hand for me to keep back. I saw 
a Mexican in the crowd who had worked for me. T 
liked him and thought he liked me, so I beckoned 
him to come out to where I was. He came. He 
was a good fellow, but a Penitente, but I never 
knew it until that day when I saw him in the crowd. 
His name w r as Jose, accented on the last letter. It 
is Joseph, as every one knows, in English. I said. 
"Jose, go and tell your Captain that I am a friend to 
your people, and I would like to see what you do." 
Jose went and soon came back and said "Esta 
buena," that is "all right; come in." We reached the 
door. It was locked. The doorkeeper unlocked it. 
My heart almost failed me. * I said, "Look here, 
Jose, you w r ork for me. I like you and you seem 
to like me/ to which he replied "Si, Senor," Ye^, sir. 
"Will you allow me to be hurt in there?" He re- 
plied, "Nunca," that is never. I entered and the 
door was shut and locked. 



—167— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

LO! AXD BEHOLD! 
The floor was dirt, no windows, one door and 
that was locked fast, one dim candle of mutton tal- 
low. I had read of a place where "they need no 
candle, neither light of the sun/' Is this it? The}; 
call it a morado. that is a "mansion." You will find 
the same word in the Spanish Bible, John 14.2 : "In 
my Father's house are mansions, 'moradas: " But 
dark as it was and as silent as it was, I began to 
look around as the dim candle-light seemed to en- 
large its light. In one corner of the room was a 
life-sized image of the Saviour on the cross, his 
hands and feet nailed to the wood and bleeding, at 
lea^t it so seemed. Also his side was pierced and 
the blood in the faint light seemed real. In the 
other corner was a life-size picture of "La Santisima 
Virgin Maria," the Holy Virgin Mary. Close to 
my feet were the feet of two of the Penitentes lying 
on their faces with feet and legs firmly bound with 
cords, and their heads toward the images. I sup- 
posed they were both dead. At the heads of these 
stood two other Penitentes facing the images in the 
corners. These like the two on the floor were nude 
except their drawers. They were both whipping 
themselves with whips made of the cactus plants, a 
toue*h prickly plant common in all this Southwest. 
I went a little closer to them and saw with my own 
eve- that the blood had stained their drawers and 
had also stained the floor. They whipped them- 
selves to time, bringing the whips first over one 



-168— 
History of New Mexico 
shoulder J then over the other, and the sharp ends of 
the whips were applied first on one side then on the 
other side of the small of the back just above their 
drawers. Except for the thud -sound of the whips 
as they fell upon the bleeding backs of the deluded 
"fellows, all was silent for about half a hour. 

The Revelator says, "There w r as silence in heaven 
about the space- of half an hour/' So there was 
in this morada. As it seemed to me, it w r as just 
about one half hour not a sigh or groan was hearci. 
Then the silence was broken by the singing of one 
of the most doleful songs to which I had ever list- 
ened, all the congregation with husky voices jdined 
in. Nearly an other half hour passed with a little 
more singing and the Captain said, "Vamos.' At 
this order to go, there seemed to be a struggle from 
death into life. The two men who I thought were 
dead, began to twitch their feet, and soon with help 
were on their feet too. I was so glad to get out, at 
the order ''Vamos/' I think I must have led the pro- 
cession at least out into the yard, but stepped aside 
and saw the poor bleeding Penitentes come but un- 
der their heavy crosses. As I rode up out of the 
valle} r on the Mesa. I noticed, I would think, no 
fewer than 300 people. Many of whom had their 
handerkerchiefs to their faces, Evidently weeping:, 
I went home with a sad heart thinking; that ja en- 
tiling could ever be done with a people so ig-noranl 
and superstitious as the3 r were. But after a while 
I took a different view of it and said; "Surely a 
people who will punish themselves like that in 



—169— 

SpamsJi and English Missions. 

some way to atone for their sins, if they could 
only embrace the thought that it is the blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ that atones for sin and 
not their own, they might probably be reached 
easier than some others. And so we found it. 
borne of our most earnest, 1 tender hearted people, 
and preachers were once penitentes. 

"Not ali the biood of beasts, 

On Jewish altars slain, 

Could give the guilty conscience peace, 

Or wash away the stain," 
Thy blood for thee can ne'er atone 
i>ut Jesus' blood and that alones, 
Many people out in this far out west don't like 
Indians, but Dr. Cook's book, if read, will compel! 
one to like them whether he will or not, and if my 
book can only bring the Mexican people where their 
belter qualities can be seen and appreciated, I shall 
ice! that I have not written in vain. 

Why should not our Civil government, the mili- 
tary and American civilian, love the Mexican peo- 
ple, at least, as well as they do the Indians? The 
Indian has been the white man's foe for ten genera- 
tions. He has cost our government untold thous- 
ands of precious lives ; while the Mexican has been 
i air friend, and loyal to the government, law-abiding 
as a rule; our friend and not our foe; and has never 
cost the government anything, not even his educa- 
tion. Why the difference? Has not the Indian 



-170- 
Hi story of New Mexico 

himself answered that question a thousand times 
when he has had some unfortunate pale face at his 
mercy. "Yes you like us, you love us, because you 
are afaid of us, and you know that if you don't like 
us, we will kill you/' That's it. 

GENERAL O. O. HOWARD. 

It was this same year, 1872, the writer met Gen- 
eral O. O. Howard at La Junta, New Mexico. Thi s 
was on his return from Southern California and 
Arizona and Southern New Mexico, where he had 
been sent by President Grant with a view to estab- 
lishing peace between the Indians and the whites. 

When I introduced myself to the General and 
told him that I was the Chaplain of the 25th Wis- 
consin in Sherman's Army, and preached at his 
headquarters on his invitation in South Carolina, he 
seemed delighted to see me. At this writing the 
General is still living and active at 77, Howard the 
brave man, the brave soldier, the brave Christian. 
THE TWO PLEASING THINGS THIS YEAR. 

When favors come unsolicited and unlooked for, 
they ought to give pleasure. The first was from Dr. 
Gilliland, president of the Galesville University, 
Wis., saying that the "degree of A. M.., Master of 
Arts, had been conferred upon you by the Univer- 
sity, and that I was respectfully solocited to accept 
the intended honor." 

The second was a letter from Bishop Simpson, 
which stated that I had been appointed Superintend- 
ent of New Mexico Missions. The mission at that 



—171 

Spanish unci English Missions. 

time embraced the English and Spanish-speaking 
people of New Mexico. The writer had never asked 
for said position. Of course it a great pleasure to 
be thus highly honored, but it is a greater pleasure 
now to have been continued in the same position for 
all these vear. 

LETTERS 1— April 1st, 1872. 
OUR WORK IN NEW MEXICO. 
What is it, and what shall be done with it? These 
questions are the more important from the fact that 
the General Conference, at its approaching session, 
will be asked to change the south boundary of the 
Colorado Conference, so as to exclude therefrom the 
entire Territory of Xew Mexico, and place it under 
the supervision of the Missionary Society. This 
change will be asked in view of the increasing in- 
terests and demands of the Mexican work in said 
Territory, as well as the remoteness of the field and 
the foreign character of the work. The foreign 
character of the work alone, to say nothing of our 
v r ast distance-, expenses, difficulties and dangers of 
travel to and from our Conferences, make it alto- 
gether impracticable for the Conferences to man- 
age it. 

Out of a population of about 100,000 souls, 4,000 
only are Americans. Ninety-six per cent then of 
the people speak a foreign language. The language 
is Spanish, but not the pure Castilian. The work 
requires then, men who can speak the Spanish lan- 
guage. The Conference has not the men, and I fear 



—172— 
History oj New Mexico 

they are not to be found in the Church. So far ay 
I can learn, our Theological Seminaries have made 
no provisions for the sfeudy of the Spanish in their 
course of studies. Ought not such provisions to be 
made at once? Religious books and tracts must be 
written in the Spanish language from a Methodise 
standpoint, and translations made. Who is to do it? 

What have we in New Mexico ? We have but 
little it is true; but that little, like the beginning in 
many Missionary fields, has been too dearly bought 
with patient toil and sacrifice to be lost. The answer 
to the above question will be better understood af- 
ter giving a brief history of the work. 

About 17 years ago, Dr. Lore, on his return from 
our Missions in South America, being acquainted 
with the Spanish language, was sent to New Mex- 
ico to look after a little Protestant outbreak in the 
Rio Abaja country, about 200 miles below this 
place. The doctor made a little organization at 
Peralta, but soon returned to the States, and the 
work was not kept up. But it was not lost as will 
be seen in another part of the article. Nothing 
more was done by our Church, until four years ago, 
when the General Conference annexed New Mexico 
to the Colorado Conference. At the next session of 
the Colorado Conference, Rev. J. L. Dyer was as- 
signed to this field as Presiding Elder. He was 
alone nearly two years, making his headquarters at 
Elizabeth town and Santa Fe. In the fall of 1869 
the writer was transferred by Bishop Scott from 



—173 



Spanish and English Missions. 

West Wisconsin Conference and assigned to duty in 
New Mexico, and has since made his headquarters 
at La Junta. The balance of that year the Presid- 
ing Elder had one preacher to preside over, But at 
the next Conference he was removed, and the writer 
returned alone. This year there are three, N. S. 
Buckner, myself and a supply (native), Brother 
Dyer's labors here were abundant, traveling in two 
years nearly 10,000 miles, preaching wherever he 
could find a few Americans and often to single fam- 
ilies, frequently camping out on the lone prairies or 
in the mountains, hungry, cold and lonely with no 
company save his faithful pony, picketed near to 
graze. Who can fully sympathize with such a one, 
but those who have experienced the same — nothing, 
sometimes, to break the almost painful stillness of 
the night save the occasional bark of a wolf, the 
scream of a panther or it may be the near tread of a 
hungry bear. Such were some of the labors and 
sacrifices at the commencement of our work, and 
such must they continue to be until we have suffi- 
cient missionary reinforcements to extend the work 
more generally in the Territory. 

Elizabethtown is an American mining mountain 
village of about 600 inhabitants. We have there a 
neat church building, a Sunday school and a few 
church members. Rev. N. S. Buckner is pastor and 
i- doing a good work. His wife, to aid them in 
the village school. 



—174— 
History oj New Mexico 

La Junta. — -We have our Mission day school lo- 
cated here. Have a good site of several acres of 
land, a good building for a church and school and 
some boarding buildings have been erected. Have a 
Sunday school and a few Church members. The 
property of this school is destined to be valuable, 
and the school itself will have a bright future. A 
little over two years ago, this school was opened in 
a little flat roofed, dirt floor, adobe building, with 
about a dozen American and Mexican children. Five 
could read the Scripture lessons in the opening exer- 
cises. It is encouraging now to see the children 
comfortably seated in our new building, and have 
about 50 scholars join in reading the lesson in the 
New Testament, some in English and some in Span- 
ish. Our highest hopes for this country are in the 
school. 

Ciuelita. — We have at this place a class of 11 
members, all Mexicans. 

Peralta. — We have here a class of 42 members. 
We said that Dr. Lore's work in the Rio Abaja wai 
not lost. His little organization at Peralta had lose 
its name and they were simply called Protestants. 
It seems that a few went back to Catholicism, but in 
the main they have done well. God raised up one of 
their numbers to take the lead, and amid violent per- 
secutions the most of them stood firm and their 
numbers increased. I preached for them while there 
and attended a prayer meeting. I could see, I 
thought, a good deal of the Methodist element and 



—175 

Spanish and English Missions, 

some of the Methodist fire. The Lord willing, I 
shall visit them again soon, A little incident oc- 
curred that I shall not soon forget : when I reached 
Bro. Gonzales' house, their leader, it was late at 
night, and his father, a very old man, said to be 
the first convert to Methodism in the Territory, had 
gone to bed. When he heard that a Methodist mis- 
sionary had come, he jumped out of bed like a boy. 
and threw his arms around me, which, by the way. 
is their style of saluting, I rather enjoyed his hug- 
ging me in his arms, but the next night at a meet- 
ing the self -same salutations were repeated until it 
seemed to be a little too much, 

Manzana, — At this place we have 11 members. It 
is 25 miles from Peralta. 

The work accomplished for the past four years, 
saying nothing of the organization of Peralta in 
1855, may be summed up as follows; 

Value of Church Church S. S. 

property mem. Scholars 



Elizabethtown $ 2,500 6 30 

La Junta 10,000 5 30 

Cirwelita 11 10 

Peralta 41 30 

Manzana 11 10 



Total $12,500 74 110 



The entire cost to the Church for said work for 
past four years, for preacher's salaries $4,100.00. 
from Church Extension Society, $600.00, Sunday 



-176— 
History of New Mexico 

School Books, Tracts, etc., $100.00, Total $4,800. 
Raised for church collections, $200.00. These fig- 
ures show a gain of 165 per cent on the dollar. Now, 
considering the foreign character of the work, it 
cannot be said that we have "dug in the earth and 
hid our Lord's money." But this cannot all be coin- 
putted in dollars and cents, neither in the increase 
of Church members. 

Our Mission day school is gradually wielding an 
influence that must sooner or later be felt, not only 
ill the vicinity in which the school is located, but out 
as far as the scholars have come, and some have 
come from a distance of more than a hundred miles. 
Nearly a score of young gentlemen and ladies will 
soon go out from school to engage in the business 
affairs of life. They are nearly all Catholics, but 
they will carry an influence. I believe that it will be 
favorable to our cause, and who knows but that 
some of them may become standard bearers of the 
cross. Death has lately visited our school and 
claimed two of our scholars, one a young Mexican 
boy about 22 years of age, the other 13. They were 
both Catholics. Their friends called upon me to 
perform the burial services. The priest was very 
mad because I went into the cemetery and helped to 
bury a Catholic. He came in a few days after and 
took the curse from the grave and put on. the bless- 
ing and made the parents of one of the boys pay 
$9.00. The young man had said that when he died 
he did not want the priest to have any thing to da 



—177— 

Spanish and English Missions. 
with him. 

But what shall be done with this work?' The an- 
swer to this question has been anticipated by all the 
above facts, but we must defer a direct answer for 
another article. 

La Junta, Xew Mexico. 

LETTER 2— April 10, 1872. 
OUR WORK IN NEW MEXICO. 
What Shall Be Done With It? 

In a former communication I gave a brief his- 
tory of our work in this Territory and the results 
of the past four year's labor. Our figures showed 
a membership of 74: S. S. Scholars. 110: and 
church property to the amount of $12,500: which 
value compared to the entire cost of the church 
ptand nearly as three to one. These figure- will 
look small to many of our brethren in the State-, 
but considering the foreign character of the work 
and the mean- expended it will compare favorably, 
we believe, with other mission- of the same age anal 
character. With respect to the future ecclesiastical 
relations of this worJv it ought to, and I presume 
will, be put under the supervision of the Missionary 
Society. The character of the work is foreign in 
every respect, save the fact that it lies within the 
limits of our happy Republic, which, by the way. is 
one grard reason why the Church should not neg- 
lect it. Our relation- with the Colorado Conference 
have been pleasant, and the Conference has done all 
that could reasonably be expected to supply tliij 



-178 ~ 

History of Nezv Mexico 

work with men and means. But the work being al- 
most wholly a foreign element, it makes its man- 
agement difficult. The people speak a foreign lan- 
guage, but few comparatively can read and write. 
They are extremely superstitious, and like the Jes- 
uits everywhere have strong prejudices against any 
other form of religion. 

In some respects, I believe it is one of the darkest 
corners of the world. As if the clouds of the dark 
ages, receding from the eastern skies of infallible 
Romanism growing thicker and darker in their 
flight, had culminated over the intellectual skies of 
the Mexican people and drenched their soil with the 
polluting floods of Jesuitical traditions, supersti- 
tions and ignorance. They are fanatically religion ; 
The idols of earlier generations have been laid aside 
only to substitute others. They glory in the cross ; 
but its the literal and not the spiritual cross. They 
plant it in their fields, set it in their yards, prop ic 
against their houses, and some of them carry it on 
their backs until they sink beneath its weight, as the 
writer has painfully witnessed. They wear small 
ones on their necks, hang them in their houses and 
cut them on the rocks and trees. They glory in 
sufferings. I have seen several with their face^ 
marked, stand before the great image and whip their 
backs until the blood ran down to the floor. Other; 
lying on the floor, with their faces toward the im- 
age, their limbs firmly bound with cords and chains. 



-4-79— 

Sp 1 7 is h i >i i En gl is h . \ f is s to n s . 

Others dragging heavy chains and blocks tied Lo 
their feet and carrying a cross larger, probably, 
than the one on which the Saviour was crucified, 
their bare, bleeding feet staining the rocks over 
which they walked. They have their saints and 
images in abundance, and hold them in great es- 
teem and adoration. They will adorn their saint? 
but curse their God. A prominent Mexican once 
said to me, as a procession of these simple minded 
creatures were passing, carrying a great image fix- 
ed on a wash-stand, and that borne upon the shoul- 
ders of a very tall woman, all chanting to the im- 
age, and one beating a drum, imploring for rain : 
"Let a man/' said he, "speak against that saint and 
he endangers his life, but you may curse their God 
and they will laugh." Looking over the pictures of 
some saints hanging around the walls of a room not 
long ago, what should I see but the well known face 
of Bishop Simpson. "What saint is this?" said 1. 
One of the ladies said : "That is mine. That is 
Bishop Simpson." "Well," said I, "Do you wor- 
ship him?" "No," said she, "I don't worship any 
of them. The others belong to my sister.' That 
lady has since had her child baptized and is now a 
member of our church. 

But what shall be done with the work with re- 
spect to supplying it with men and means? Shall 
the missions already established be sustained or 
shall they be abandoned? And if sustained, shall 
it be those simply that have been established, or 



— -ISO— 



History of New Mexico 

shall the work be extended also? These questions 
to us are important. To abandon the work is to re- 
treat from the field. The order retreat might do 
for a weak-nerved soldier in the heat of battle, un- 
cheered with the hope of victory or the nobleness 
of his cause, but to Methodist missionaries, though 
weary in, but not of their work, inspired with the 
nobleness of their cause and the hope of victory and 
the final reward, it will not do. To retreat would 
be an act of injustice to the Church ; for in so doing, 
she would lo c e the time of her servants, the means 
expended and the work accomplished. To retreat 
would be an act of injustice to our dear Mexican 
brethren, as it would leave them still more exposed 
to the derision, if not the violence of their Catholic 
e^emic^. In short, there must be no retreat. A vic- 
tory in New Mexico for our holy Christianity, in 
the name of the King of battles, must be won. 

Then if the work is not to be abandoned, shall ii. 
be sustained simply, or both sustained and extend- 
ed ? If the Church had the men available for the 
worlc, we should rejoice to see it extended, but if 
we have not the men, we must do the best we can. 
\Yc ought to have today a dozen new missionaries 
h this Territory. But to sustain this number would 
recmire at least as many thousand dollars, to say 
nothing of rent-, church-buildings, etc. It is 
true this estimate is nearly double the average for 
the la-t four years, but while we have been sustain- 
ed, we trust, with the Apostles' triangle of graces, 



... —181— 
Spi iis : i and English lf/ssi)i;. 

Faith, Hope ai d Charity, we have been considerably 
detained also with a triangle of difficulties, Roman- 
ism, Infidelity and poverty, but the greatest of these 
is poverty. If we had the men who could enter this 
held and begin to preach in the Spanish language at 
once, we believe the expenditure would be wisely 
made. But we doubt the propriety of sending at 
present those who must spend from one to three 
years in preparing for the work. And then to find 
it difficult to so adapt themselves to the customs and 
w ays of Mexican people as to win their confidence 
and do them good. If visiting from house to house 
among our own people is necessary to win them to 
Christ, it will be more necessary here. Their mode 
of living is very simple. The men are not good 
providers, the women are not good cooks. They 
have but few tables. Generally they spread their 
food on a mat of some kind down on a dirt floor. 

I think I see in the providence of God a better 
way. I believe the natives of the country are the 
men for the work. They would certainly make 
great itinerants so far as travel is concerned. They 
are expert riders on horseback and exceedingly swift 
on foot. They have been known frequently to trav- 
el on foot 100 miles in 24 hours ; so say some of the 
most reliable Americans. A school of a high grade 
is being built up in our midst from whose humble 
walls light is destined to go out that shall light up 
some of these dark corners. God is in this mission 
school. I believe it is one of his own selected agen- 



—182— 



History of New Mexico 

cies, through which he designs to prepare young 
men for this Mexican work. The Catholic Church, 
so far as I can learn, has no Mexican priests. Sh? 
depends wholly upon an imported ministry, mostly 
from France. The Mexican people don't like it. I 
believe that good young men of their own nationali- 
ty would be far more efficient for this country. The 
men could be found who would delight in educating 
themselves in view of this work if they were able. If 
we had the means to educate them, I believe in from 
two to four years a dozen or more would be ready to 
go out and do work for the church. Query : Would 
not this be the cheapest and best way to supply thh 
work? While one American missionary is say from 
two to three years learning the language so as to 
preach in it, at a cost of from $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 
a year, six Mexican men at no greater co^t to the 
church, could prepare quite as well for the same 
work. This time would not be lost to the church, 
while that of the American missionary would be. 
The Lord direct in some way to supply this work 
with laborers. I am sure I could have no other mo- 
tive in writing than the good of the work ; for this 
is a lonely, dreary land, cut off from society, civil- 
ization, and from those Christian endearments that 
make the work of the ministry so pleasant at home. 
But the Lord is with us and that sweetens our cup of 
privations. 

THOS. HARWOOD. 
La Junta, X. M. f April 10, 1872. MA 



—183— 

Spanish and English Missions. 
1873-1874. 

Bishop Simpson has vet episcopal supervision. 

The Missionary Corresponding Secretaries were 
Revs. R. S. Dashiell, T. M. Eddy and J. M. Reid. 
Dr. J. P. Durbin had refused the nomination at the 
last General Conference. 1872. The thought that 
my correspondence with Dr. Durbin must cease and 
be with strangers was at first not pleasant. It is 
true that my correspondence had not been extensive 
with the* great doctor, but what it was had been 
exceedingly pleasant. 

Dr. T. M. Eddy, I knew as the able editor of the 
Xnrthwc-tern Christian Advocate of Chicago; also 
Dr. Reid as the editor of the Western and Xorth- 
we tern Christian Advocate, but Dr. Dashiell I had 
hardly ever heard of before. I soon found them 
full of interest for the work, to which they had been 
called, and it seemed to me, especially interested in 
our Spanish work, and our correspondence extended 
through many years, and was also exceedingly 
pleasant. T became so attached to them, after many 
years of plea-ant correspondence, including the 
great Bishop, that as they passed away, one by one, 
T felt lonely, and that I had lost special friends of 
our Mission. 

NEW RESPONSIBILITIES. 

Up to about the beginning of 1872. I felt that T 
must do all I could in a general way. but now that 
the responsibility of the whole vast field had been 
placed upon me as superintendent, a position I had 



History of New Mexico 

rot asked for, I could but say: "Who is sufficient 
for these things? and rather the heavens fall than 
fail." 

SUPERINTENDENT OF NEW MEXICO 
MISSION. 

I never asked to be appointed to the Mission, 
much less to be its superintendent. It is true, I was 
appointed on the ground, after Father Dyer, but 
that of itself gave me no preference. Being first 
on the ground and having become somewhat famil- 
iar with the work, led me to be looked upon as a 
leader in the field, and it was natural that the Board 
nt New York and the Bishop should look to me 
for all the information I could give them, but that 
placed the authorities under no obligation to make 
me the superintendent of the ?\Iission. It may be 
that they expected me to say something on the 
question of the superintendency, but I did not. It 
? ccn i e d that the Bishop, himself, hesitated. It may 
be his he-itation w r as between Brother John Steele 
and myself, or it may be there were applicants. [ 
never knew, I never a$ked, Brother John Steele 
would have made a good superintendent, and had 
he been appointed 1 could have worked under him 
witlr ' great satisfaction, for he was a well informed, 
neat, and safe man. It is no wonder, however, that 
the bishop hesitated about placing me in such a 
responsible position, and it has always been a won- 
der to me that he did it. As a preacher I was um 
known beyond a small circle in my own conference. 



—185— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

Before I joined the conference I had been a school 
teacher, land surveyor and local preacher, but what 
of that? When I joined the conference my ap- 
pointments were all good and I always left them 
better than I found them, and I once heard my pre- 
siding elder say that "Brother Harwood could go 
anywhere in the conference,'' but what of that for 
the responsible position of superintendent of the 
Mission? To add to my improbabilities for such a 
position, when I enlisted as a soldier, I fully expected 
to attend the approaching session of the conference, 
and be received into full connection in the confer- 
ence, but we were ordered to the front after the 
Indians in Minnesota and it was impossible to get 
to the conference in person or with report and my 
presiding elder with all his apparent love for me 
and my real love for him moved my discontinuance, 
So at the close of the war, and my return to the 
conference I had to join on probation and go over 
my studies again. I am not complaining of this 
action, but after an experience of thirty-seven years 
in the same relation to my brethren and the Church 
I boldly recommend kinder considerations, and I 
am glad to say that I have never so treated any of 
the many candidates for the ministry whose destiny 
has hung upon me as their presiding elder or super- 
intendent. 

It is true again that I had so conducted myself as 
a soldier in our civil war that I maintained the re- 
spect of the soldiers and officers of the regiment to 



—186— 
History or New Mexico 

the extent that when the vote for the chaplaincy was 
taken there was not a dissenting voice. But of 
course, none of this the bishop knew. I name the 
above because I know he hesitated in appointing me 
for he intimated it in his letter of appointment. 

THE BISHOP SAID TO ME. 

"You are hereby appointed Superintendent of the 
New Mexico Mission and it will be your duty, etc.," 
naming some important things. He said also, "I 
hesitated a little in making the appointment from 
the fact that I was afraid that you w r ere not pushing 
the work as it ought to be. I want that work- 
pushed vigorously/' 

Of course I thanked the Bishop for the appoint- 
ment and promised to do the best I could with the 
help of the Lord. At this w r riting my task is nearly 
done and my work such as it has been, must stand 
out before the gaze of the Church and the world 
for condemnation or commendation or both as criti- 
cal eyes may prefer. 

LOVE AND REVERENCE FOR THE BISHOP. 

I had no fear of the Bishop, of course, but I had 
such love and reverence for him that I did not say 
all that I had in my heart to say for I never could 
stand the insinuation of a lack of energy. I made 
a pleasant reply, thanking him for his frankness in 
letting me know what he thought. 

FOURTEEN HUNDRED MILES. * 

It seems strange as I now think of it that I 
should have been expected to take such long and 



—187— 

Spanish an J English Missions. 

dangerous and expensive trips alone, and at my 
own expense. My salary at this time had been 
raised to a thousand dollars a year, but Bros. Steele 
and Matthieson received the same. I was the only 
man so far as I knew who traveled in those early 
days alone. Bishop Lamy and other Roman Catho- 
lic priests and all the military and government offi- 
cials nearly always had an escort. So I thought on 
such a long trip I would find out when some freight 
outfit was going and fall in with them and be safer. 
I did so and went down with J. J. Chandler, who 
had quite a strong freighting outfit and he felt pretty 
well prepared to stand off Indians and highwaymen. 
It was a pleasant trip, just full enough of romance 
and danger to keep one all the time elated. This, 
coupled with the hope of opening up the missionary 
work in fields beyond made the trip a joyful one. 

As to traveling expenses for these early trips I 
presume it was more my fault than it was the Bish- 
op's or the Board at New York. We were furnish- 
ed so much money for the entire Mission, $400 
would not have been too much a year for my travel, 
but that $400 would pay two helpers and I was so 
anxious to see the work move I preferred to get 
along without it and thus have more men employed 
in the work. Mrs. Harwood was teaching and 
with a p-dy school there was sometimes a little sur- 
plus and she was just as anxious to see the work 
advance as I was. She made all her mission schools 
self-supporting and in all her thirty years' teaching 



—188— 
History or New Mexico 

would never accept missionary money. The mis- 
sionary money has always come through my hands, 
and I presume, had I paid her $500 or $600 a year 
for her valuable services neither the Bishop nor the 
Board at New York would have raised objection, 
but she was so conscientious about missionary 
money that she could not have been persuaded to 
accept it. But some how we always got along very 
nicely. But, back to our journey. 

J. J. Chandler, the Freighter. 

On learning that Mr. Chandler, an old and long- 
experienced freighter was soon to start with quite 
a large freight train with freight for Silver City, I 
arranged to go with him. 

I had to keep a team, or span of ponies and 
buggy, so was ready and we started Oct. 17th. In 
order to do a little missionary work I started a day 
ahead. I camped on the divide. 

The Divide. 

This is between Watrous and Las Vegas and 
simply divides the waters of the Mississippi and Rio 
Grande. The waters flowing eastward flow into the 
Mora river, thence into the Canadian, thence into 
Red and thence into the Mississippi. The waters 
flowing westward and southward flow into the La 
Gallina, thence the Pecos, thence the Rio Grande 
and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. 

My first camp was on the Divide. The night was 
cool and clear. I was all alone, save the ponies, 
picketed on the rich gramma grass and nothing to 



—189 



Spanish and English Missions. 

break the silence except now and then the yelp of a 
coyote. I made my bed facing eastward where I 
could watch the stars. The constelation Aries came 
up led by the beautiful star Aldebaran ; then Taurus 
with the smiling pleiades and the Orion with his 
bands and belts and large parallelogram and "Ell 
and Yard/' the brightest of which Betelguese and 
then came Proxyon, Pollox and Serius and away to 
the north circling around the Pole Star is the Great 
Dipper. I thought of Job. "Canst thou bind the 
sweet influence of Pleiades or loose the bands of 
Orion." 

Las Vegas. 

At Las Vegas the next day called to see my 
friend and Brother minister, the Rev. J. A. Annin. 
I waited there until the freighter came up with his 
teams. He had several wagons loaded with freight 
and a family wagon in which was his entire family 
going to Silver City to visit some friends. As the 
little ones have grown to manhood and woman- 
hood and the most of them are married, settled 
down and prominent men and women I will name 
them as we called them at that time, Georgie, Clarie. 
Harvey, Lewie, and Lillie and Ollie, though I think 
Ollie and two others, Katie and Gracie were born 
after this. Katie became a teacher and was a fine 
young lady. She died two years ago. Little Gracie 
is blind and will probably have to live in the dark 
all her life. Mr. Chandler himself has passed away. 
He died at his home at Wagon Mound last year at 



—190— 



History of New Mexico 

the advanced age of 77. For 35 years he was a 
warm friend and neighbor to this writer. 

A Tarantula. 
On the road to Santa Fe, I was a mile or so 
ahead of the freight teams and found a tarantula 
crossing the road just ahead of me. It was the 
largest I had or have ever seen. I got out of the 
buggy and with a small branch broken off of a pine 
was trying to hold it until the teams came up, but 
the thing didn't like to be held and would start off 
from me. I struck down in front of it a few times 
to stop it, but the last time it sprang at me and 
came near striking me in the face. It scared me 
worse than when the Rebs would come at us with 
their bayonets in the war and I struck down so hard 
with the brush I broke it all to pieces. Broke the 
tarantula, I mean. They are not hard to kill. 
Neither Webster, nor the Universal Dictionary does 
justice to the tarantula in their discription of it. 
The Universal Dictionary says they are about an 
inch long. This was much larger than that. Its 
legs must have been three or four inches long, and 
its body all of three or four, I would think. These 
authors say the tarantula is a native of Italy. Per- 
haps they are, but I don't see how they could ever 
have crossed the ocean to get on the American Con- 
tinent. It is evident these authors had never seen 
our Southwest tarantula. I had slept securely out 
on the ground until I encountered that thing ; after 
that I begged a bed in one of the big wagons on a 



—191 



Spanish and English .V Is s ions. 

safe and felt much safer, if the bed was a little hard. 
Santa Fe. 

In Santa Fe I preached in the old adobe chapel 
and the next day visited some of our people. I had 
been almost abused because I had not opened our 
Methodist missionary work at that place. To do so 
I knew would result in a denominatiaonal struggle 
for existence which I did not like to see, for I 
found the Presbyterians had a hard struggle alone 
to maintain this work. When Bishop Simpson 
came out and we held our Mission Annual meeting 
there in 1878, he commended me for acting wisely 
in that matter. 

Petrified Forest. 

The next day we camped out about 20 miles on 
the Fort Stanton road from Santa Fe. I gathered 
some nice specimens of petrified wood. 

The next day we passed Galisteo. There was 
just one store there. I patronized the store to the 
extent of purchasing one sheet of paper, for which 
I paid ten cents. 

Stinking Springs. 

The next day and nearly all night brought us to 
the above named springs. The water is clear, but 
impregnated with certain minerals that give the 
water a bad taste and a very disagreeable odor, 
not fit for man nor beast. We then pushed on to 
the Antelope Springs, about 65 miles from Santa 
Fe. Here we found good water and fine grazing 
for the mules and horses. We then went on to 



—192 — 
History of New Mexico 

Pinos Wells where we camped and preached in 
Spanish to a few ranchmen and distributed some 
tracts. The next day was the Sabbath. We had to 
travel nearly all day in order to make the next 
good grazing and water. I never like to travel on 
the Lord's day, but of course I could not ask a 
freighter to lose a day when he had to reach Silver 
City with his freight by a certain time 01 pay quite 
a penalty, but as a kind of redemption for breaking 
the Sabbath I read, as the ponies jogged along with 
the buggy, Wesley's little book on Christian Perfec- 
tion. 

Indian Scare. 
We had learned that the Muscalero Indians were 
on the war-path. About 40 miles before we reached 
Fort Stanton we went into camp only to rest and 
graze the mules and lunch. While eating, a doctor 
who was in our company, with his medicines packed 
on a burro, sauntered out, and came hurrying back 
and said, "I think the Indians have run the mules 
off." At this, Mr. Chandler sprang from his lunch, 
grabbed his rifle and cried out, "Every man with his 
gun come with me. Elder, you remain here and 
protect the family," he said. I snatched my pistol 
and took my stand like a soldier and was pacing my 
beat back and forth with all kinds of thoughts as to 
what may be the outcome. One of the little boys 
began to cry and said to his mother, "Ma, do you 
think they will kill my pa?" His mother answered, 
"No, Georgie, I don't believe there are any Indians 



—193— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

near; they would have too much sense then to he 
away out here so far from water." I said to myself, 
"'That's a bright idea." Pretty soon they were all 
back bringing the mules and my ponies with them. 
We felt very much relieved, but pushed on to the 
Fort as fast as we could, where we remained two 
days. The whole tribe were threatening to go on 
the war-path and the command at the Fort were 
alarmed. They had been acting very badly and the 
chief's brother had been put in the lock-up and the 
other Indians were very angry. I preached to the 
soldiers on temperance. I also went down to Rio 
Bonito, but found no chance for services. 

More Guns Were Needed. 

As the whole country was alarmed over the In- 
dians' threats we thought it best to secure, if pos- 
sible, more fire-arms. I went to the Commander, 
but without success. 

Before the Post Commander. 

When the Commander refused to loan us a few 
muskets, I asked him "if he had not more than 
once sent an escort of soldiers to escort Roman 
Catholic priests out of this place in times of dan- 
ger?'' to which he had admitted in the affirmative. 
I said, "Yes, I have met them in other places drawn 
by Uncle Sam's slick mules, while I was trudging 
along on horseback in the burning sunshine while 
they, the priests, with hats off, cigars in their 
mouths, in the shade, while they perhaps at one 
time cursing our government while I was defending 



—194— 

History of Nczv Mexico 

if, for which I carry a wounded arm." When I re- 
turned and told my story the freighter said, "Well, 
if that be the case, we must be 20 miles on the road 
by sunrise tomorrow morning, for there is more 
danger here than there will be 20 miles away and 
so we were, and then pushed on as fast as we could 
for Las Cruces, 150 miles from Fort Stanton. 
Highwaymen Hid Away in a Ranch House. 

The next day I felt as if I was almost losing time 
and as we were somewhat out of danger from the 
Indians I pushed on ahead to find missionary work. 
I saw a ranch house some distance from the road 
and went up, thinking it was perhaps an American 
family. As I approached the house a colored man 
came to the door and suddenly went back into the 
house. In a minute several men appeared at the 
door armed. They were a hard lot and hid away 
to avoid detection. They thought I was an officer 
coming to arrest them. They seemed relieved when 
I told them I was a Methodist preacher and wanted 
to have prayer with them. I also talked awhile for 
which one said mil gracias — that is, a thousand 
thanks. 

Las Cruces. 
We pushed on as rapidly as we could via Santa 
Rosa, Lost River, White Sands, San Argentine to 
Las Cruces in the valley of the Rio Grande. Here 
we rested a few days and feasted on water-melons. 
Mi sion grapes, apples, pears and peaches, I made 
the acquaintance of Col. Bennett, editor of the 



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Spanish and English Missions. 

Pioneer, Col. Jones of Mesilla, and several others. 
Silver City. 

We then crossed the Rio Grande, went via Fort 
Cummins, four days' journey to Silver City, which 
the freighter reached on time and was much re- 
joiced. At Cummins we spent a day resting up the 
mules and made the acquaintance of quite a number 
of the military officials and their families, and spent 
some time on the hill-sides gathering agates, a beau- 
tiful pearl stone with moss setting. 

We went via Mimbres, thence to Hudson Hot 
Springs, where we visited with Mr. and Mrs. Rams- 
dale who had aided in our school work at La Junta, 
as it was then called. At Silver City I preached 
twice on the Sabbath to good congregations and 
made life-long friends. This was the 12th of Oc- 
tober. I found at Silver City a Mr. Ward, a 
Presbyterian minister in charge of the work, but he 
remained only a short time. I found here a Mr. 
Stevens and his family, a Mr. Whitehall, also a 
son-in-law to Mr. Stevens, with whom I had become 
acquainted at Elizabeth. They have all passed away 
except the children, who have grown up, settled 
down in life and are doing well. After Mr. Ward 
left there was no other preacher at that place until 
1876, when we placed a Methodist preacher there, 
first. Rev. George Murray, and after that G. X. 
Gale. 

My Birthday. 
Silver City at that time was a hard place. I 



—196— 
History of New Mexico 

spent two nights sleeping in the same big wagon. 
The big safe had been taken out so my bed was a 
little softer. There was a baile (dance) all night long 
each night, all kinds of singing, dancing, shooting, 
one man shot and I think he died afterwards. My 
birthday found me on the road for Las Cruces. On 
the night of the 16th, my birthday, camped with 
Rev. J. B. Salpoint from Tucson, Arizona. He was 
afterwards made Bishop and Archbishop and died 
a few years ago. The first Bishop after this wrote a 
book in which he says, When one had to make a 
journey in those days he would think of it for a long 
time before hand fearing that he might not come 
back to his home." The Archbishop had his ser- 
vants, a spring wagon for his bedding and cooking 
and a buggy for himself. I was alone the most of 
the way back. 

The 18th brought me back to Las Cruces where 
I was the guest of Col. Bennett, the editor, and held 
religious services at his house. The Colonel had 
once been a member of the Methodist Church at 
Redwing, Minnesota. 

Ei. Paso, Texas. 

Mr. Bennett was very kind. When he learned 
that I wanted to visit El Paso, he secured me a 
horse free of cost and I went down on horseback, 
leaving my ponies to rest up. 

I had often heard it said that when the Indian- 
were on the war-path it would not do to meet therii 
unless you had enough men with you to get away 



—197- 

Sfanisk and English Missions. 

with them, so as I was jogging along away down 
the road 20 or 30 miles below Las Cruces I spied 
a lot of Irdians moving from the mountains dow:i 
toward the road on which I was traveling and i: 
looked as if their trail would reach my road in 
about a mile or two ahead. Of course I didn't want 
to go back, so I put spurs to the great gaunt, long- 
legged horse and thought I was gaining on the 
Indians, but all at once he stumbled and seemed a 
long time falling, but finally he reached the ground 
and I also considerable in advance of the awkward 
horse. My first thought, when I found I was not 
much hurt, was to be up in time to get back to him 
so that he wouldn't whirl and start back and leave 
me, but I reached him in time to get hold of the 
bridle reigns in time to hold him. I then started 
again, in doubt as what I had better do, risk meet- 
ing the Indians or risk the clumsy horse. Suffice it 
to say I beat the Indians leaving them after a while 
out of sight. I found El Paso a small place at that 
time, not more than a few dozen houses. I preached 
the next day, Sunday, in the hotel parlor of Mr>. 
Roman to about 30 people, real good for the place. 
I had in the congregation two Episcopal clergymen. 
They assisted in the services. I then crossed the 
Rio Grande on the sand, for it was dry and preach- 
ed at Juarez. I preached in the house of an Ameri- 
can whose name was Wilson. He, his wife, their 
mother and several sons and a little daughter and 
a few sheep herders were present, about IS I would 



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History of New Mexico 

think. So far as I know this was the first Methodist 
sermon ever preached in that place. The mother of 
Mr. Wilson was a Baptist. She said "that is the 
first sermon I have heard for a long time." She 
seemed delighted with the services. A year or so 
after that she died. It cost $50.00 to bring the 
body from Mexico into the United States. What a 
privilege to preach the gospel to aged people when 
they are far from home and from the scenes of 
earlier days. 

The next day Mr. Wilson accompanied me on 
horseback to Las Cruces. We traveled much of 
the way up to La Mesa in the river bed. Spent the 
night at La Mesa at the house of a German who 
treated us nicely. He had a room nearly full of 
water-melons, put up, he said, for winter use. 
Dona Ana. 

The next day, the 21st, journeyed on to Las Cru- 
ces, took dinner with my friend, the editor, Mr. 
Bennett. Wanted to pay for the use of the pony, 
but no pay would he accept. I then journed on to 
Dona Ana expecting to find some Protestants, but 
was frankly told that there was not a Protestant in 
all that town, so I journeyed on about 15 miles to 
Fort Selden, arriving there late at night, made the 
acquaintance of a few and next day went on to the 
edge of La Journada del Muerto — the Journey of 
Death, where I found the old freighter and his fam- 
ily. They had finished up their visit at Silver City 
and were thus far on their return trip. 



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Spanish and English Missions. 

The Journada del Muerto means the journey of 
death, so called because so many had lost their lives 
crossing it. It is about 90 miles across and 
for many years no water, but now there is, about 
half way across it, a fine, deep well. 

Martin's Wells. 

We camped at that place and became acquainted 
with the old soldier, Capt. Martin. He treated us 
nicely. Said he enjoyed himself out there if it was 
a lonely place. Said he had "no fears except from 
the Indians and no trouble except from his nearest 
neighbors* chickens." Said his nearest neighbor 
lived about 40 miles across the Rio Grande and the 
"Indians were always a little nearer than we want 
them." 

Paraje. 

This is a small Mexican town at the north head 
of La Jornada and near the Rio Grande. Here I 
made the acquaintance of Lorenzo Sanches, who 
was at that time carrying the United States mail on 
horseback a long distance and dangerous, but he 
had a large family and that paid better at that time 
than anything else he could get to do so he ran 
the risk. I was well pleased with Don Lorenzo and 
his interesting family. They had never been mem- 
bers of the early Protestant Church, the Baptist or 
Methodist, but thought well of them. At that time 
denominationalism didn't count much. I took his 
name, that of his wife and all the children, as fol- 
lows. A few of these were added afterwards : Lo- 



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History of New Mexico 

renze Sanchez, Juanita Sanchez, Leonides, Ricardo, 
Fidel, Daniel, Venita, Floripa, Melquesidec, Abel, 
Adiel, Ismael, Edita. I think some of the last 
named were born after that visit. I called them 
mv little church on paper. I used to send them 
books. 

Several years after that I found them away down 
the Rio Grande at old Santa Barbara. This was at 
one time a military post, a few miles up the Rio 
Grande above Hatch. It is all washed away now. 
It was a little late when we reached their house, 
but after a late supper Mrs. Juanita, Bro. Sanchez' 
wife, took me into a large bed-room where the boys 
were all soundly sleeping. She remembered the in- 
terest that I had taken in their boys and girl, pass- 
ing along with the candle said, "Agui esta Deoni- 
des." Este es Richarddo, this is Richard, and 
so on, naming them all. When she came to one 
who was blind, she paused and said "Este es" — and 
cried, saying, "El pobresito esta ciego' that is to 
say, "The poor little fellow is blind." Quite a num- 
ber of year's after this I was at their house away over 
in Arizona on the Gila River. Bro. Sanchez had 
taken up government land over there. Some of the 
boys were married by this time and all had their 
ranches. We went out to their cemetery and held 
memorial services. The little blind boy had died. 
There were five graves in all. I led the way, put- 
ting flowers on the graves. Flowers were growing 
wild on many of them. Mrs. Sanchez followed. 
When she came to the grave of the little blind boy, 



—201— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

she paused and while others wept, she put double 
the flowers on that. 

Fort Craig. 

Reached Fort Craig the next day. Thence on to 
San Marcial. There I was the guest of Don Bias 
Chaves. From him learned much about the early 
work, more particularly of the Baptists. He was a 
helper with the Rev. J. M. Shaw, also with Mr. 
Gorman. The work had all gone back. Bro. Bias 
came with me as far as Socorro. 

At Socorro I was the guest of Rev. J. M. Shaw, 
one of the early Baptist preachers. At this place the 
District Court was in session. I there met for the 
first time Judge Johnson, Elkins, T. B. Catron and 
others. 

Palomas. 

Here I learned about Palomas and that there were 
some Protestants, or some whom Judge Shaw, who 
had also become a lawyer, thought would be Pro- 
testants if they had a chance. So I retraced my 
steps, leaving the buggy and one horse, borrowed 
a saddle and struck out for Palomas with one horse. 
I went via San Marcial, thence with a ranchero by 
the name of John Hamilton, thence to Placita. 
.Fort McRae, thence across the Rio Grande and 
the Hot Springs and down about 16 miles to Palo- 
mas, where I spent the Sabbath. It was a long, 
hard, dangerous ride. I was the guest of Don Greg- 
orio Chavez. I found it a pleasant family. We had 
a little prayer meeting Saturday night. Two per- 



—202— 
History oj Neiv Mexico 

sons prayed. Sunday I preached and organized a 
little class of eleven persons. The only hymn we 
could sing in Spanish was "Blow, Ye the Trumpet, 
Blow" "Tocad Trompeta Ya." While singing I 
noticed tears in the eyes of the old lady Barbarita. 
The names of the members were Gregorio Chavez, 
his wife, Sabina, his mother, Barbarita, Jose Chavez, 
Carpio Chavez, Carlota Apodaca de Chavez, Ben- 
igno Chavez, J. W. Ellis and wife, Victoria, Guada- 
lupe Padilla and Filimona Chavez, all dead at this 
writing, except two, I think. Also organized Sun- 
day school of 25 as given by the parents. 

Fort McRas. 

On my return I passed the night at Fort McRao 
at the house of Capt. Farnsworth. I visited the 
cemetery and saw the graves of many who had 
been killed at different times by Indians, with the 
number was the grave of the wife of Capt. Phifer, 
killed by Indians, whose son we had with us in our 
Tiptonville school. None of themembers at Palomas 
had ever been Baptists except Mr. GregorioV 
mother and Jose Chavez. 

On my return I spent the night at Bro. Bias 
Chaves'. I found him very friendly and although 
he had been a helper in the early Baptist work he 
wanted me to organize our work at San Marcial 
and I did so. The members were Bias Chavez, 
Olimpia, his wife, Seferino Baca, Amado Telles 
Baca and a Sunday school of ten scholars. Seferino 
Baca was appointed superintendent. Bro. Bias 



—203— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Chavez wanted to be a preacher or at least a helper, 
but wanted too much money and we hadn't the 
money. These were all Baptists. It lacked adhe- 
sion or something and didn't hold out long. 
Socorro Again. 

I reached Socorro again and passed my time with 
old Father Telles. He seemed almost overjoyed. 
He said he was first of all a Methodist, but when 
they withdrew he united with the Baptists. Now 
the Baptists have gone and the Methodist come back 
again he was going to join us and did and was 
made class leader and local preacher afterward by 
Rev. Matthieson. 

I preached on the night of the 5th of November 
in the old Baptist chapel and organized with the 
following members : Santos Telles, his wife and 
daughter, Maria. They were all old. Father Telles 
almost a hundred: A. W. Hatter and wife, Diego 
Miranda Mr. Henry and Victoria Reed, Albina 
Miranda, Jose Miranda. Four of the above had 
been Baptists. All have passed awav. Father Telles 
at 102. 

ESCOXDIDA. 

At Escondida I found a few who had been Bap- 
tists. Jose Antonio Baca and wife. Also Antonio 
Maria and family at Cuba. These all united with 
us, but never lost their love for the Baptists. "Yo 
soy Bautista" "I am a Baptist" was a very favorite 
expression. Who could blame them? The recol- 
lection of their first love from Romanism to Pro- 



—204— 
History or Neiv Mexico 

testantism was pleasant and it lingers long and deep 
with some of them as long as they lived. 

PERAI/f A. 

On the 9th I reached Peralta. Glad to meet Bro. 
vSteele and his wife at their post. We held our 
quarterly meeting services with the Quarterly Con- 
ference. Had about 80 present, members of Sun- 
day school 40, a grand time. Bro. and Sister Steele 
were happy in their work. 

Home. 

I reached home in due time, found Mrs. Harwood 
and the school doing well. It had been a long, dan- 
gerous, responsible trip, but the Lord was with me 
all the way. While it was our intention to make the 
English speaking the basis of our work yet up to 
that time the Spanish was far more encouraging. 



1874 

The year 1874 opened well. Rev. F. J. Tolby 
had reached his field from Morocco, Ind. His work 
is Cimarron and Elizabethtown and other adjacent 
places. 

On my return from my long trip I found Rev. M. 
Matthieson at our home awaiting my arrival. I 
had been asking for help from my old conference, 
the West Wisconsin and through my Presiding El- 
der, Dr. Alford Brunson and recommended Bro. 
Matthieson. 

The Board at New York. 



—205 

Spanish and English Missions. 

The Board at New York spoke of the New Mex - 
ico Mission as follows : 

The field in New Mexico is a wide one and the 
hindrances to Christian labor are great, and yet we 
have favorable returns from our last report. Dur- 
ing the year members have been received, churches 
have been built and dedicated and the entire field 
has been most fully occupied. The obstacles to be 
overcome, and the present conditions of the work- 
are clearly set forth by our Superintendent, Rev. 
Thomas Harwood. 

Extracts From Report of 1874. 

We find our work is hard, and we are not mak- 
ing the progress we desire to make; but God is with 
us and we are not discouraged. 

1 — The great majority of our people are Mexi- 
cans and have never known of any other than the 
Roman Catholic religion. 

2 — The country has been stirred from center to 
circumference by the recruits to the priesthood oi 
banished Jesuits from other countries. They come 
in flocks like blackbirds to a corn field, twenty-five 
or more can be seen in a single village. 

3 — The Americans are few, and as a rule they are 
here to make money; and to accomplish that object 
they must keep the good will of the country and 
thus secure their influence and trade. The most ef- 
fectual way to do this is to court the favor of the 
priests and the leading Roman Catholic people. 
Hence commenting on one hand and snubbing on 



—206— 
History of Nezv Mexico 

theother is common. So that our cause is thus often 
wounded in the house of its friends. Judas was riot 
the only one w r ho for "thirty pieces of silver" be- 
trayed his Master with a kiss." 

4 — -Another reason for the slowness of our work 
we have no railroad steam whistles to break the 
silence of a slumbering people. As an auxiliary to 
successful missionary labor our highest hopes are 
inthe education of the children. 

NEW MEXICO CORRESPONDENCE. 
It is not very pleasant to be snowed in up here in 
the mountains at Elizabeth City, 10,000 feet above 
the waters of the Atlantic. It is a grand sight, how - 
ever, and makes one feel poetic to stand in the valley 
and look around upon the dizzy heights, hill tops 
and mountains that so proudly surround this mining 
village. But to-day these grand old hill tops are 
hid from our view 7 by the whirling snow drifts, 
except now and then the clouds break away and we 
see "Old Baldy's" snow-crowned head 4,000 feet 
above us. I reached this place on the evening of 
New Year's day; and, soon after arriving, per- 
formed in our new church the beautiful ceremony 
of a double wedding. The generous bridegrooms, 
desiring to replenish an itinerant's empty pocket- 
book, pushed into his fingers fifty dollars. While 
the wedding parties were retiring the congregation 
remained and sang with a will "Happy Day," and 
then rejoined the parties for congratulations at the 



—207 



Spanish and . English Missions. 

house of the parents of one of the brides, and then — 
well I wonder if they danced after the "marriage at 
Cana of Galilee." I came via Cimarron, where I 
met Bro. Tolby and family, just from Mo- 
rocco, Indiana. He was transferred to this field by 
Bishop Simpson, and will have the honor of serving* 
the people at Cimarron, called the gateway 'in New 
Mexico, also at Elizabeth City and vicinity. This 
gateway for immigration, like the happy gates of 
gospel grace, stands open night and day. We ex- 
pect many immigrants to enter this gateway into 
Xew Mexico during the coming season, and hope 
and pray for some entrance through the happy 
gates of gospel grace into a higher and better way 
of life. I am the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Holier- 
beck, a well-known family in this part of Xew Mex- 
ico, and, being of Methodist descent, know well how 
to entertain a Methodist minister. That is, drive 
ahead with business as if no one was there. How 
different this village from what it was four years 
ago. Then bustle, confusion, drunkenness, quarrel- 
ing, fighting, shooting, killing was the order of the 
clay. Xow it is as peaceable as many Eastern vil- 
lages': Then meals could be had at a few little 
eating houses at extravagant prices, but "no room 
at the inn" for a weary itinerant, except a rough, 
cold, dirty bed on the unclean floor. But now, 
thanks to many friends for kind invitations to be 
their guest.- Then life and property were unsafe. 
The roads were infested with thieve-, robber > and 



—208— 
History of New Mexico 

cut-throats. The writer's life, with many others, 
was once threatened coming into this village, though 
advised not to come. Passing some of the hell 
holes, where the devil's best friends had gathered to 
drink the "beverage of hell," I heard not a few 
unpleasant words, which are not lawful for man to 
utter. That he was not molested, his thanks are 
due to a kind Providence and a Colt's revolver. 
Now all is quiet. I have recently returned from a 
missionary tour of 1,400 miles, in which I visited 
nearly all the principal places in the territory. I 
went via Las Vegas, Tecolote, San Jose, to Santa 
Fe, where I spent the Sabbath. I preached at the 
Presbyterian Church for the pastor, Rev. Mr. 
Hughes. Bro. Hughes was a sweet spirited man, 
but in poor health, and has since gone to his eternal 
rest. Leaving Santa Fe, I went to Las Cruces and 
Mesilla, on the Rio Grande, via Fort Stanton, 
preached several times on the way, once at evening 
tide, standing on the "house- top." Thence to Silver 
City, in the southwest part of the Territory, where I 
spent the Sabbath, and preached twice to good au- 
diences of American people. Made the acquainance 
of Bro. Ward, Presbyterian minister, and a goodly 
number of friends and acquaintances from this 
place. This is at present the largest American town 
in Xew Mexico. Returned to Las Cruces via Fort 
Bayard, Hot Springs and Fort Cummings,and went 
to El Paso in Old Mexico via Fort Fillmore and El 
Paso City, Texas; spent the Sabbath and preached 



—209— 



Spanish and English Missions, 

at each of these places ; said to be the first Protestant 
sermon ever preached in Juarez. At El Paso City 
met with Rev. Mr. Fays, Episcopal minister of that 
place, and Rev. Dr. Barstow, of the same denomina- 
tion, from Mesilla. They treated me kindly, and 
assisted me in the morning- services. From El 
Paso returned up the Rio Grande to Las Cruces. 
Thence to Socorro, via Fort Selden, Paraje, Fore 
Craig, San Marcial, San Antonio, holding services 
in English and Spanish at several places on the way. 
From Socorro returned down the river to Palomas 
via Fort McRae, where I spent a pleasant Sabbath. 
Held three services, and organized a Mexican class 
of eleven persons, and a Sunday school of twenty- 
five scholars. Of the eleven in the society one is an 
American, a fine scholar, and, if faithful, will be a 
light to these dark, benighted people. They want an 
American preacher and school. Came thence back 
to San Marcial, and organized a class of five and a 
Sunday school of ten. One of the members of this 
class is a native of considerable promise, good edu- 
cation, and wants to aid us in our mission w r ork; 
will be employed if the Board can furnish the 
means. Came to Socorro and organized a class of 
ten and Sunday school of fifteen. Bro. Matthieson, 
transferred from the West Wisconsin Conference, 
takes charge of this w r ork. Having spent some 
years in South America, where he acquired some 
knowledge of the Spanish language, he will soon 



—210— 
History of New Mexico 

be able to preach to these people in their own dialect. 
1 am hopeful of this work, and shall look for good 
results from this place through the labors of Brother 
and Sister M., for let it be remembered that the 
wives of our missionaries in this country are co- 
workers together with their husbands, in the co- 
equal work of the schools and Church. For to my 
mind it is just as evident as sunlight in day time 
that with the native of this country we must edu- 
cate in order to Christianize. And let it be said 
to the honor of our missionaries' wives in New Mex- 
ico, laboring silently in the day schools and Sunday 
schools and elsewhere, unpaid and unnoticed by the 
Church at home, that theirs is a noble work, and 
well are they performing it. I came thence to Per- 
alta, where Brother and Sister Steele have been la- 
boring in church and school since February last. 
Truly their labors have not been in vain. They, 
with the aid of their helper, Bro. Gonzales, have 
added fifteen to their membership, making sixty 
members and probationers. All are natives. They 
have a Sunday school of forty scholars. The Lore! 
was with us on the Sabbath. Upward of sixty it is 
thought communed ; it seemed to me a time of great 
consecration to God. Bro. Steele is making rapid 
progress in the Spanish language. Sister Steele 
was sick and unable to be at Church. Never did I 
see people more attentive to the sick than these sim- 
ple-hearted natives were to her. Never did I see 



—211— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

a missionary and his wife more beloved than these 
seemed to be. Their influence upon the moral and 
social elements of these people, to say nothing of 
their success religiously, is simply wonderful. Their 
greatest need is a parsonage and church building. 
To erect houses of worship is important every- 
where, but especially is it so with the natives of this 
country. The Catholics have a church in almosc 
every village in the Territory. We, also, must have 
churches, or we shall fail to hold in the proper sense 
the children of our Protstant people. These people 
have a great reverence for church buildings. I have 
seen them often take off their hats when passing a 
house of worship. With such a people it can easily 
be seen that churches are an important necessity, or 
we fail to impress them with the superiority and 
permanency of Protestantism. The year 18/4 
opens with encouraging features. A year ago I 
was alone in this great field. Now we have four 
American missionaries, and they are I believe the 
right men in the right places. We have a few 
helpers, and others ready to forsake all and devote 
themselves to the exclusive work of the ministry. 
If the Church at home could see this work as we 
see it, and feel its importance as we feel it, the 
means would be furnished heartily to push the work 
vigorously, A year ago we had a membership of 
seventy, now we have one hundred and twelve, an 
even hundred of these are Mexicans. Then we had 



—212— 
History of New Mexico 

four Sunday schools with 110 scholars. Now we 
have seven Sunday schools with 160 scholars. We 
move slowly, but thank God, we move, and I be- 
lieve, surely. 

THOMAS HARWOOD, 

Supt. N. M. Mission. 
Elizabeth City, New Mexico, Jan. 2, 1874. 

FROM NEW MEXICO. 
BY REV. THOMAS HARWOOD. 

Rayado, N. M., Jan. 10, 1874. — I am tired to- 
night and hungry, too; and provoked to hear the 
landlord say, "No supper till the stage comes/' and 
to hear another say, "The stage won't be in till ten 
o'clock." I should go to bed at once, but who could 
sleep with all this racket! and besides that, it isn't 
very pleasant to go to bed without supper after a 
horseback ride of forty miles. To pass the time, I 
would write a little, but saddle-bags were stolen, 
and I have no way of carrying stationery ; but here 
comes the landlord — perhaps he can furnish it. 
Paper, pen, and ink are furnished, and here I sit 
on a three-legged stool, dirt floor, back by the win- 
dow, which, by the way, is my writing desk. 

One of our bishops writing from St. Paul, Minn., 
calls it the "Tip-top of his Parish." Then making a 
few whirls in his ecclesiastical duties, writes again 
from Mexico City, calling it the "Bottom of his 
Parish." The writer might perhaps with some de- 



—213 — 



Spanish and English Missions. 

gree of propriety call the place from which he is now 
writing, "A Way-Side Station" of his parish. My 
parish is not like the Bishop's "Tip-top," all astir 
with swarming multitudes of American people, but 
quite like the Bottom of his Parish — sluggish, inac- 
tive, dead. Xot like the "Tip-top" of his with re 
spect to vastness of magnitude, but quite like the 
"Bottom" with respect to the character, habits and 
appearance of the people. His are Mexican people; 
so are mine. His speak the Spanish language; so do 
mine — perverted Spanish, but not the pure Castilian. 
His are Jesuistic Roman Catholics ; so are 
mine. His are descendants of the earlier 
emigrants from Old Spain. blighted with 
Romish superstitions of the long night of 
the dark ages ; so are mine. They had the name and 
brought with them the symbols of Christianity, tore 
down the heathen idols of the country and planted 
in their stead the cross, and called themselves Chris- 
tian conquerors. A noble conquest indeed if their 
rehgion had had a- much of the spirit and power of 
Christianity as it had of the form. It lacked the 
power and there was no development, and the Mex- 
ican people today are far in the rear of other Chris- 
tian nations. 

Where are their discoveries? Where are their 
inventions" Where is their literature? Where are 
their professional men? Has Mexico none of these? 

Why? Her religion has fettered the intellect. O 



-214— 

History o f Nezv Mexico 

when will these "dry bones" of this great "valley" 
of spiritual death begin to shake and show signs of 
returning life? 

This little Mexican town, Rayado, is situated on 
a small mountain stream of the same name. The 
word is from rayar, and signifies a ray, or beaming 
light, This definition agrees well with the light, 
sparkling appearance of the stream, but not to the 
appearance of the plazita (little town). I stopped in 
a little house in this town once last summer during 
a terrible thunder-storm. By the way, I am quite 
nervous in a thunder-storm, since the lightning- 
struck my buggy two summers ago and hurt me so. 
The old Catholic Mexican lady, I presume, saw T that 
I was afraid, and that seemed to scare them and she 
took down from the wall one of her saints, and told 
a little boy to hold it at the door. While it was 
being held, and after the thunders had ceased a little, 
I inquired why they held that thing at the door? 
The lady said it was San Isidro — and that "he would 
keep the lightning out of the house." I asked 
whether he would keep the lightning from me? "O 
yes," said she. I told her that I was a Protestant 
preacher. "No esta-bueno" (no good), she said; 
"it won't help you unless you pay two dollars." 
"Paga me dos pesos" (pay me two dollars), said 
she. The bell just rang for supper. I had almost 
forgotten that I w r as hungry. 

The stage has come and we have just had supper. 



—215- 



Spaitsh and English Missions. 

I am glad I made no complaint about a late supper, 
for I heard the landlady say that she was "tired al- 
most to death ; that she had to do about all of her 
work herself ; that her feet were then blistered and 
worn out walking." She is the only American wo- 
man in the place. Mexican women for house-help 
are of not much account. Many of them can't cook 
to suit Americans, up to the present however they 
have great) 3* improved. She, like most Amer- 
ica:! women in this country, has to do her own 
work. I am sorry that so many of the American 
women in this country have to work so hard. I 
heard a sixty-year-old lady the other day say, that 
she "did her own house-work, and milked nineteen 
cows." 

I came to Ciruelita yesterday, twenty miles from 
La Junta, my home. We are building a church 
there. Have ten Mexican members. I would like 
them pretty well if they would quit eating on the 
floor, hey set my breakfast on a table. Bro. Jose. 
Benito and I sat at the table to eat, but the women 
and children sat down in the dirt on the floor, and 
.-eerned to relish their breakfast as well as we did. if 
they were surrounded with hungry dogs and naked 
children. 

The little class are pleased with the idea of having 
a church, and subscribed very liberally; which, with 
three hundred dollars. promised aid from the Board 
of Church Extension, will build them a very neat 



-216— 
History of New Mexico 

little church. The name of this town is from Civ- 
ile! a, a plum tree — Ciruelita, a little plum-tree, or 
orchard. It takes its name from a beautiful little 
orchard of plum-trees near the town, perhaps a 
thousand trees in all, and ought to bear, I would 
think, a hundred bushels of plums. These poor 
deluded people have dedicated this orchard to one 
of their saints. They detail a man to take care of it ; 
he is to keep the birds and people out of it, and 
gather and sell the fruit, and buy materials for a big 
feast to be made in honor of one of their great 
saints. But alas ! for the saint no feast has been 
made, because no fruit has grown. Alas! for that 
once beautiful orchard, though watched and guarded 
for four years, is dying and nearly dead compared 
with its former beauty and thriftiness. But supper 
is pretty well digested and I must retire, for I have 
forty-two miles to ride to-morrow to reach Eliza- 
beth City, where I preach the next day. Buenas 
noches (Good-night) ! 

Buenos dias (good morning) ! I can sympathize 
with Bishop Haven in one of his efforts in Old Mex- 
ico to gather a congregation, where he spent the 
forenoon in trying to get the people to gather for 
worship and failed; resumed his efforts in the after- 
noon, and succeeded in getting a congregation of 
seven, including two preachers, and preached to 
them. That incident encouraged me. It reminded 
me of my first trip around my circuit in this coun- 
try. I summed up and found that I had traveled 



Spanish and English Missions. 

about four hundred miles, had preached eleven 
times, and had at all the appointments sixty-eight 
hearers, which was an average of about six hearers 
to a sermon. Xow I thought when I read the inci- 
dent of the Bishop's preaching to seven persons and 
spending one whole day, that I could well afford to 
spend two weeks to preach to sixty-eight, which 
was nearly five per day. 

It reminded me also of another incident which 
occurred not a great while ago, and which I some- 
times call my "Sabbath-day's journey." My ap- 
pointment was out. Went into the neighborhood, 
twenty-four miles from home, Saturday. Started 
early Sunday morning, informing the Mexicans, as 
I passed through the different country plazitas, that 
there will be Protestant services at the house of Mr. 
A, at te>j o'clock to-day. Nearly all said they would 
go. Ten o'clock arrived. Xo one had come. Wait- 
ed an hour, and still no one had come. By this 
time, however, the landlord was drunk, and was 
doing most of the preaching, or talking rather, and T 
was a most unwilling hearer. Soon dinner was 
called, and we were about half through eating when 
the old gentleman bethought himself, and must have 
the blessing asked. He boasted of being an Episco- 
palian, and his good lady a Catholic. Dinner fin- 
ished. I hastened up the canon to a plazita where 
lived a Mexican man who had told me "he was a 
Protestant." I was quite uneasy, for I had thirty 
miles to go to reach homeland feared that my Sab- 



—218— 
History or New Mexico 

bath would be a lost day. I rode up in the midst of 
harking dogs and gaping children, went in, and 
there sat my Protestant man and his great, fat 
squaw-looking lady. He had told me before he was 
Protestant, but now, before his wife, denies the 
faith. She soon went out, and he said, "Si senor, 
yo soy un Protestante" (Yes sir, I am a Protest- 
ant). I asked him why he told me he w r as not a 
Protestant. Pie said "he was afraid to own it be- 
fore his wife;" which, by the way, is no uncommon 
thing. T]ic women are wonderfully attached t<> theit 
church. 

Soon the lady and several of the neighbors and 
the children came in, numbering, I would think 
twenty or twenty-five. I took out a written sermon 
in Spanish, and told them it was one that I had 
prepared, and would like to read it to them ; the 
lady spoke up quickly and said, "No quiero, no 
quiero" (I don't want it, I don't want it). Said I, 
"Porque, senora? es buen sermon.' (Why, madam, 
it is a good sermon). "Yo no quiero, yo no quiero," 
she continued. 

In the course of about half an hour, and after the 
third effort, she said, "esta bueno" (all right V 
And at the close of the reading, she with several 
others, said, "esta bueno." I then gave each one a 
tract, which was received with their usual expression 
of thanks, "mil gracias" (a thousand thanks). A 
ride of thirty miles and thus ended the "Sabbath 
day's journey. " The itinerant sat down at his own 



— 219— 

Spanish an J English Missions. 

quiet home, and might have sung: 
"Be it ever so humble. 
There is no place like home." 
The scenes of the day, such as oxsn yoked without 
bowes in the yokes, the old Egyptian plows, such as 
Dr. Xevans describes in his Biblical Antiquities, 
men riding and driving .burros (donkeys) laded 
with merchandise, little boys out herding sheep, 
goats, and cattle, etc., led one to wonder if he is 
not back in the Mosaic dispensation. I said I 
could sympathize with Bishop Haven. So I can; 
but can sympathize with Dr. Butler and others who 
are with him more. The Bishop made a flying trip 
and was soon out of it. and back into civilizatior , 
but the Doctor, Bro. Carter, and others, must "brer k 
up the fallow ground" and cultivate the sterile soil — 
live and perhaps die in that far off field. But God 
will be with us. 



FROM LA BAJADA, NEW MEXICO. 
A few lines sketched by the wayside of a Mis- 
sionary tour in this far-off field, may not be without 
interest to some of your many readers. It is said 
"there is not much in a name," but the Mexican 
names of the towns of our Territory are so signifi- 
cant that they at once suggest some striking feature 
of the place amounting, in some instances, to a very 
clear suggestion of the place. For instance, the 
above named place, where I am now writing, liter- 
ally signifies the go down. 



—220— 
History or New Mexico 

The name would at once suggest to the mind of 
a Mexican the character of the place. An Ameri- 
can, leaving Santa Fe, as I did yesterday, winding 
through narrow, crowded, filthy streets, passing on 
either side, tottering houses and crumbling adobe 
walls, crossing acequias, Santa Fe Creek, grain 
fields, and thence out on the plains, covered with cac- 
tus of various varieties, stunted pines and cedars, 
crossing arroyos (dry bed of a stream), mesas (ta- 
ble lands), no house for fifteen miles, and now look- 
ing down from his dizzy heights upon a valley be- 
low, naturally asks, "What place is that?" But he 
-tarts down, winding his way around points of pro- 
jecting iron ore, beds of iron, mal pais, old gray 
sandstone, and finally reaches the foot of the hill 
and the little town a'nd enquires. What place 'is this? 
and is told it is La Bajada, and means The Go- 
down. He will never forget it. His mile or mild 
and a half of downward windings along deep ra- 
vine^, canons and precipices will so impress his 
mind that the name La Bajada will at once suggest 
the idea of the "go down." 

I left home (La Junta) last Thursday, came via 
Las Vegas, Tecolote, San Jose, Old Pecos church. 
Apache Canon to Santa Fe, where I spent the Sab- 
bath. From La Junta (the junction), so called be- 
cause two rivers form a junction at that place, we 
pa^s over a sloping hill called the divide. It divides 
the waters flowing eastward into the Mississippi 
from those flowing westward and southward into 



Spun is h and English Missions. 

the Pecos and thence into the Rio Grande. One 
would hardly expect to find a lake on this divide, 
yet such is the reversed order of things in this 
country that we look for lakes, marshes and streams 
in the Mountains and dry lands on the Plains. Why 
is this? Because the waters are lost by evaporation 
and sinkage before they reach far out on the plains. 
At least this is the case with many of the stream-. 
On the sides and at the foot of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, sloping eastward on the plains, may be seen 
many arroyos, some of which will have considerable 
water during a portion of the year, but a few 
miles down it will entirely disappear. Even the Rio 
Grande, down at El Paso, was perfectly dry last 
October, when I was down, but higher up, at Me- 
silla, Socorro, and Albuquerque there was an abun- 
dance of water. 

Pas Ye?-a- (the meadows) is beautifully situated 
on the side of the mountain that rises to the west, 
and on a small river called Las Gallinas (the tur- 
keys). It claims a population of some 3,000 souR 
mostly Mexicans: perhaps, however, 60 or 70 Amer- 
icans. The Presbyterians have a mission and school 
here under the supervision of Rev. Mr. Annin. It 
was e-tablished some four years ago and has cost 
the Church already about 816,000. Two miles from 
Las Veeas, on the old military road, we reach the 
Puertocito canon (the little door opening), where 
wa> perhaps once the outlet of some lake or river. 
About two miles farther, through pine- and cedar-. 



—222 — 
History of New Mexico 

is another gorge where may be seen rising in hori- 
zontal strata the old red sandstone more than a 
thousand feet above us. A few miles brought me to 
Tecolote (owl). This is a small Mexican town 
where once was started a Protestant school, but was 
soon broken up by priestly threats of excommunica- 
tion from the "dark-aged church" to those who 
send their children. Here I passed the night at the 
house of an Israelite, with which this country is 
greatly blessed, if it be a blessing to have with us 
the great-grandsons of those who killed Christ. But 
the Jew is not the only one in New Mexico who 
would kill the Savior. We have Americans, from 
under the parental roof of prayer, "who crucify the 
Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame/' 
Fifteen miles further we reach San Jose. This is 
a small Mexican town, situated on the Pecos river. 
The river was high, owing to the rapid melting of 
the snow in the mountains, and could only be 
crossed on the bridge. It was a windy day, and a 
fearful gale was sweeping across the bridge when I 
was crossing. I saw a portion of a fence lifted in 
the air and blown toward the bridge, which scared 
the horse and caused a slight stampede, and I feared 
for a moment that horse, buggy and driver would 
be blown into the river. I afterward noticed the 
few panels of fence floating down the river, and no 
harm was done save the loss of the fence and a wide 
gap made into a fine wheat field. On arriving in 
Santa Fe was told by the officer of the Signal Ser- 



Spunuh and English Missions. 

vice that the velocity of the wind of said day was 
fifty miles per hour, bearing northeastward, and 
fears were expressed that great damage was done 
on the plains and lakes. 

Reached Oskloski'sRanchand was the guest for 
the night of a Pole who came to this country when 
a boy, served many years in the U. S. army, was 
discharged and settled years ago in this valley near 
the ruins of the old Pecos Pueblo, and has around 
him his wife, children, flocks, herds and lands. 
This was once a large Indian Pueblo or town occu- 
pied by the Pecos Indians. They became reduced 
in numbers and were removed a few years ago to 
the Pueblo at Jemez, west of the Rio Grande. The 
old Pecos church, the only prominent relic left of 
this once prosperous place, and of which nearly all 
travelers in this country had something to say, is a 
great curiosity. As to its age, there may be much 
exaggeration, but as to its size, style and a part of 
its mechanism, its shattered remains speak for them- 
selves. Its thick adobe walls, towers, galleries, 
cornice of curious carved wood, its ornamented 
beams and brackets, etc., are remarkable. The carv- 
ing was probably done with knives or coarse tools 
made for the purpose. The work was by no means 
fine, but shows labor, patience and considerable 
skill. A few years ago the roof fell in, and the win- 
dows and doors are all out. This old relic, like the 
old men of the country, must soon pass away. As 
to the antiquity of this old building a few more 



—224— 
History of New Mexico 

words may not be out of order. The Catholics claim 
that it was built by them, and perhaps by the Fran- 
ciscans, and is not much older than the Cathedral 
at Santa Fe. This would make the Pecos church 
about 300 years old. The Indians themselves, how- 
ever, claim a much greater antiquity for this build- 
ing than the above would make. My Poland host 
told me that an old Mexican recently died at the age 
of about 100 years. He said that when he was a 
boy the old church was there and looked very old. 
I once inquired of one of the Indians of the San 
Domingo Pueblo on the Rio Grande concerning this 
matter. He said he used to know the Indians of 
the Pecos Pueblo as well as he knew the fingers on 
his right hand. He said he was 70 years old, and 
when he was a small boy that house was there and 
looked to be very old, and that his grandfather told 
him that it was there when he was a boy. 

What an interest clusters around the Pueblos of 
this country ! These Pueblos or village Indians were 
found living in villages when the Spaniards first 
came up to form settlements under Juan de Onate 
in the year 1595. It is claimed that Santa Fe was 
commenced in that year, but it is believed by his- 
torians and confirmed by tradition that an Indian 
Pueblo existed at that place when the Spaniards 
first came. 

But I must hurry on to Santa Fe. The wind of 
yesterday brought a terrible snow storm and re- 
verses the order of the poet who says, "December's 



—225— 

Spanish unci English Missions. 

as pleasant as May,' and makes May as unpleasant 
as December. But we drive on, facing for two 
hours a May snowstorm that neither Wisconsin nor 
Minnesota could beat in Winter time, passing Pig- 
eon Ranch, Apache Canon, but can't stop to tell of 
the inglorious defeat at Pigeon's Ranch in 1862 of 
General Sibley and his 1,600 Rebels by the 1st Colo- 
rado Regiment and a few regulars under Brig. Gen. 
Slough. 

The snow clouds break away, and as we descend 
the western slopes of the mountain out from under 
the tall pines and cedars, we have a beautiful view 
of the Rio Grande Valley. Santa Fe is reached, 
where we spend the Sabbath. Intended to preach 
twice in the Old Presbyterian Church, but spent the 
forenoon looking for the key to unlock the door, 
and the afternoon looking for some other place for 
worship, and that left us the evening only, which 
we occupied in trying to preach to a congregation of 
sixteen persons in the army chapel. This old town, 
noted for age and homeliness, still squats in her 
filth and the people in their sins. She may have a 
brighter day, but it must be when the dim candle- 
light of her Romish altars shall be removed and 
the bright sun of Protestant Christianity shall arise. 
Just as the most of this letter has been written, and 
poorly written, too, by thedim light of a candle. at 
die foot of this great hill (La Bajada), while at the 
c ame time the sun has been pouring his light upon 
its brow for some time, and I knew it not. so low am 



—226— 
Hiitory o f New Mexir.o 

I — so this people are struggling by the faint light of 
Romish altars while the sun of a purer Christianity 
is shining above them. But as the rays of light 
come breaking through my window and eclipsing 
the faint light of my candle, and I have displaced it 
from my table, so will the light of the Protestant re- 
ligion soon shine upon the hearts of the people of 
New Mexico, and the faint light of Romanism will 
disappear. 

THOS. HARWOOD. 

May 12, 1874. 



NEW MEXICO CORRESPONDENCE. 
Since writing to you from La Bajada, the go 
down, I have visited our missions at Peralta, So- 
corro on the Rio Grande and thence returned, and 
visited Cimarron. These missions are prospering 
under the efficient labors of Bros. Steele, Matthieso-i 
and Tolby. 

Capt. Campbell who was with me from Santa 
Fe, is familiar with all this country. Came as a 
soldier fifteen years ago. Was a soldier and office." 
under Kit Carson, Gen. Canby and others, and is very 
familiar with incidents and facts of the war history 
of New Mexico, both with Indians and rebels. His 
knowledge of places and facts connected with them 
make him an interesting traveling companion. 

From LaBajada we came down the fertile Rio 
Grande Valley passing the old Indian Pueblos of 
Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Sandia and Isleta; 



Spanish and English Missions. 

also via the Mexican villages of Algodones, Bernal- 
illo, Alameda, Albuquerque, thence to Peralta, 
where we spent a pleasant Sabbath with Bro. 
Steele. 

The crops, vegetables and fruits, thus far down 
the Rio Grande, look well. Great destruction of 
property was feared from the overflows of this Nile 
of the West, owing to the melting snows in the 
mountains. The farms and orchards of these In- 
dians, in appearance, average a little better than 
those of their Mexican neighbors. What a history 
they must have, if it had only been written, but the 
stream has rolled too rapidly and long for historians 
to gather up much now of the past except from tra- 
dition and conjecture, and these are contradictory 
and uncertain. 

We intended to cross the river at Albuquerque 
and go down to Socorro, spend the following Sab- 
bath and return, via Peralta But the high water, 
high winds and a drunken ferryman deterred us 
from attempting to cross. We hurried to the lower 
crossing, but the same high water and still higher 
winds prevented our crossing. We then hastened 
down the river for a certain place where we expect- 
ed to stop, but missed the house ; night overtook us, 
roads were flooded and washed out in many places, 
and we reined up to a place which proved to be a 
Mexican sheep ranch The late supper, consisting of 
coffee, tortillas (a kind of Mexican cake), and mut- 
ton ribs, though not as relishable as we desired, wa; 



—228— 
History of New Mexico 

not a failure, but the sleep, on a hard bed, annoyed 
with hungry bedbugs within, and bleating sheep 
without, was a failure. The morning dawn, break- 
ing overManzano (apple tree) Mountains oh the east 
and lighting up the snow-capped Sierra Zuni on the 
west, the Sierra Madre on the south, and the little 
Sandia (water-melon) on the north, scattering the 
darkness from the valley and revealing to us again 
the out-spreading waters of the Rio Grande, was 
a welcome visitor. Prince Edward is off for Per- 
alta, measuring off about three miles of Rio Grande 
sand per hour, which makes us wish we had rail- 
roads. The river is rising, banks overflowing, roads 
being washed away, difficult traveling ; but we reach 
Peralta, warmly received, and soon, with wolfish 
hunger, sat down to the missionary's table, spread 
with eatables, prepared, thank heaven, by an Ameri- 
can lady, Mrs. Steele. 

Spent three days in Peralta. Attended the wed- 
ding of Senor Don Salvador Gonzales and Senorita 
Flora Chaves, both Protestants. The gentle- 
man is a son of our helper in the missionary work. 
Reverendo Ambrozio Gonsales. It certainly wa>, 
in many respects, a grand affair. Captain Camp- 
bell, who is a Catholic, and has witnessed many 
imposing wedding ceremonies in that Church, has 
traveled in the Northern, Southern and Western 
states, and in the West India Islands and in Eu- 
rope, pronounces it the finest wedding he ever at- 
tended. In some respects it must have surpassed 



— 22 ( ) - 



Spanish and English Missions. 

the late White House Wedding. The number in 
attendance is estimated at three hundred souls, con- 
sisting of Reverendos, alcaldes, abogados, pueblo-, 
hoiiibres ricos and hombres pobres (rich men and 
poor men/) mugeres y ninos (women and children). 

Spent the whole day, had dinner and supper. 
Sermon and then the beautiful and impressive cere- 
monies in Spanish by our missionary, Brother 
vSteele. The object seemed to be to remove the 
false impressions made by the priests that a Pro- 
tectant marriage is a cold, infidel affair, amounting 
to nothing. 

The following day. Sabbath, was one of the good 
days in the Sunday school and in the public ser- 
vices, and Sunday night, at family worship with 
our devoted missionary and his wife, Brother and 
Sister Steele, our friend Campbell embraced re- 
ligion. He was very happy, sang, prayed and 
talked. On the balance of the route to Socorro and 
return he was ready at any time to sing, pray 
or speak in English or Spanish Came up with me 
and united with the Church. The Lord help him to 
swing out clear from Romish superstitions and be a 
"workman that needeth not to be ashamed.'' 

This Peralta Mission is doing well under the 
faithful labors of Brother and Sister Steele. They 
are greatly loved by their people. But their hands 
are tied for want of a suitable place for worship, 
Sunday schools, day schools and even a house to 
live in. We fi^d it highly necessary to open a day 



-230 - 

History of Nczv Mexico. 

school for our Protestant children in this country 
in all our missions except where there is already a 
Protectant school. We can not afford in the bright 
afternoon of the Nineteenth century, with the pre- 
cedents of the past and the light of Europe shining 
upon us, to fill Catholic schools with Protestant 
children. Our cattle growers in this country are 
careful not to sell or lose their younger stock, 
otherwise their herds would diminish. We ought 
to be as wise as they. We must have our day 
schools, and glad are we that the wives of most of 
our missionaries in New r Mexico are able and will- 
ing and do take charge of this very essential part 
of our missionary work. But here at Peralta, the 
number is too great for the small, inconvenient 
house they have, or any that they could get, unless 
they were furnished with means to build or buy. 

The Missionary and Church Extension Societies 
would gladly aid them, but such have been the 
urgent appeals from other places, that so far it has 
been impossible for those strained and straining 
treasuries to aid them. Oh for the faith of a 
Muller, or the money purse of a Vanderbilt and 
Astor, or a Stuart. But we seem to be doomed to 
weak faith and moneyless purses. If our good 
people at home could only realize our great anxie- 
ties to do good and our inability to do it, for lack 
of means, they w r ould never again break the dollar 
for its half or its quarter to throw into the Mis- 
sionary or Church Extension collections, but they 



-231 ~ 



Spanish and English Missions. 

would throw it all in. Fives, and tens, and hun- 
dreds would take the place of quarters, halves, and 
ones, and our church would swell her contributions 
a hundred-fold. 

Tuesday morning we set out for Socorro, passing 
Valencia, Tome to Tres Alamos where we crossed 
the river to Belen The river is high, still rising, 
crops flooded, current rapid, and crossing danger- 
ous. The ferrymen can't manage the large boat, 
and bring up the small one. The buggy is set on 
and the horse must swim. Prince Edward don't 
like the plan. He has no confidence in a Mexican 
boatman, rebels, submits, plunges in, strikes the 
current, all go dashing down, boat on the horse, 
breaks his rope, swims ashore. He runs and jumps, 
looks around to see the boat; it is dashing down the 
current with passengers, ferrymen and all, but he 
did not seem to care much, lies down and rolls, is 
up and galloping off toward home. The boat ;^ 
brought ashore. I hasten for the horse, find him 
grazing with a herd of others a long way off. He 
sees me and comes to meet me — poor fellow. His 
goodness makes me like him. He comes back wil- 
lingly, but trembles as he plunges again into the 
water. He strikes the rapid current of cold melted 
snow from the mountains. He swims nobly, but 
grunts and groans as if in the agonies of death. He 
recognizes my voice from any other, and seems 
to be calmed at my speech. How I pity him. But 
tho^e lazy ferrvmen, what are thev about! They 



- -232- 



Hi story o f New Mexico 

have laid down their oars to let the horse swim and 
draw the boat after him. But, thank God, we are 
c afe across arid those squalid, filthy ferrymen must 
have double pay, because the current swept the boat 
down and they had to work longer to cross. But 
noble, faithful horse, if your master was as faithful 
to his Master as you have been to yours, surely he 
he would expect a reward in this and in the world 
to come. You shall have a reward of good feed 
and kind treatment. 

Dear Reader, I have kept you too long, but must 
now leave you on the west bank of the Rio Grande. 
It is not a pleasant place to leave one, but it may 
suggest some profitable reflections about that great 
river, upon whose banks many of us have stood and 
bid adieu to departing friends, and into whose 
chilling floods we soon must enter. But amid those 
surging billows, the Master will speak, and happy 
will he be, who can recognize that voice. 

THOS. HARWOOD. 

La Junta, New Mexico, July 1, 1874. 

NEW MEXICO CORRESPONDENCE. 

In my last I left the reader on the west bank of 
the Rio Grande, near Belen. If he will rejoin me 
at that place, we will soon finish up this laborious 
but interesting tour. 

From Belen we passed down the Rio Grande 
valley, crossing wheat, oat and corn fields, passing 
orchards of apples, peaches and grapes, via Sa- 



Spanish and English Missions, 

final. Rio Puerco, La Joya, and Alamillo. At Ala-, 
millo we left the river in company with Gen. A. G. 
Smith, U. S. Revenue Colector, for the lead mines 
up in the Magdalena Mountains, where we spent a 
pleasant day and preached at night to an intelligent 
and appreciative American audience. Found Gen. 
Smith an agreeable traveling companion. He takes 
no strong drinks, pjays no games, thinks the U. S. 
Government and the Protestant religion not per- 
fect, but better than any others this side of heaven. 
Says his father was a Methodist preacher, in the 
Baltimore Conference, in the early days of Method- 
ism. From these Mountains down to Socorro is a 
pleasant down grade drive of 25 miles. Spent the 
Sabbath at Socorro with our good missionary, Bro. 
Matthieson and family. They are doing a good 
work at this place. This is one of the most prom- 
inent towns on the river. Only a very few Ameri- 
cans live here. Bro. M. has a Sunday school, a 
day school and Church organization. 

Early Monday morning we were facing home- 
ward. Passing Escondida, Limitar, and various 
other Mexican River towns, looking for a place to 
cross. The river was higher than ever and but 
few ferry boats were running. Passed- the night at 
or near Rio Puerco, where we crossed the Rio 
Grande next morning. From the river we came 
eastward, ascending a gradual slope for some 25 
miles to the divide between theManzano ( apple tree) 
Mountains and the Organ Mountains. Here we 



History oj AVr:* Mexico 



make a short camp and as we will soon lose sight 
of this great river and valley it might be profitable 
to take a kind of reflective view of the surround- 
ings. The broad, winding, overflowed Rio Grande, 
many miles away to the north and to the south 
may yet be seen. The old Spaniards called it the 
Rio del Norte and the Rio Grande del Norte, thai 
is the River of the North and 'the Great River of 
the North, and also the Rio Bravo, that is the 
Brave or Mad River. These names are all very ap- 
propriate. The first when it is low, second when it 
has a moderate quantity of water and Mad River 
when the waters come dashing down as they do 
now. This river h really the Nile of America, it 
has quite a resemblance to the Nile of Africa. Its 
annual rise occurs about the last of May or first 
of June, and is occasioned by the melting snows 
ill the mountains. The waters of this river are like 
the Nile of Africa, exceedingly turbid at high water, 
and it is thought by some that nearly one-fifth of 
its bulk is sediment. Each irrigation is consequent- 
ly a good coat of manure, enriching the soil. This 
is the reason why lands on the Rio Grande that 
have been cultivated for nearly three hundred years 
are still rich. This river is 1,800 miles in length, 
lias but few tributaries, and for this reason is more 
apt to go dry near its mouth than near its sources. 
The stream, like many of the people living on it, is 
very treacherous, often changing its bed. That lit- 
tle town in the curve of the river yonder, called Sa- 



Spanish an J English Missions. 

final, was nearly destroyed in 1867. Near the 
center of the river stands the remains of the old 
Catholic church. Xear the same point the finest 
residences had been reared, all of which, with or- 
chards, gardens, wheat-fields, vineyards, etc., were 
swept off by the June rise. Away on the north are 
the Placer and Sandia (water-melon) mountains, 
in the west Sierra Madre and Magdalena, in the 
south Fra Cristobal and the Organ, and around 
about, above and beneath me the Manzanos. From 
this divide your range of vision takes in about 10,- 
000,000 acres of land, one seventh of the entire Ter- 
ritory. Over a half million of this is probably irri- 
gable land in the Rio Grande valley. Almost every 
acre of this ten millions is available, as farm lands, 
grazing and timber. Within the limits of this range 
live a population of some 40,000 people, mostly 
Mexicans. 

When the railroad, the forerunner of a higher 
civilization, shall come, bringing American men, 
women and children to people this country; and 
when the old Egyptian farm implements and modes 
shall give place to modern skill and improvements, 
and when the debris of the dark ages shall be rolled 
from the minds of the people, and give place to a 
higher civilization, education, and a better form of 
religion, then shall this land "rejoice and blossom 
as the rose." 

But we must hurry over these mountains to Abo 
Pueblo. We are there. Stop with a Mexican. A 



History or New Mexico 

kid is killed for supper. It cried like a pitiful child. 
Hungry, but can't eat the innocent thing. This 
was an old Indian Pueblo. There stand the walls 
of an old Church or Hall ; no one remembers when 
it was occupied. We passed on through pine and 
cedar timber of 12 miles to Chato, where we found 
a few Protestants and held services. Capt. Camp- 
bell did good service also in Spanish. We passed 
Manzano or apple village, thence on to Tajique, 
where we passed the night with a Mexican. The 
fare was tortilla and coffee for supper, and mush, 
made of blue cornmeal, and coffee for breakfast. A 
journey now of 70 miles between houses and nearly 
that distance between water. All day and all night 
we must drive over what is called the Jornada. But 
who can travel that distance on an empty stomach 0 
so we must look around and find something to 
cook. The town is searched to find some flour, but 
in vain. Xo flour in a town of three hundred in- 
habitants ! Why what do you live on? "Yo no se/i 
(I don't know). At length the captain found some, 
and we had a few cakes baked, and some eggs 
boiled — paid the bill $4,and set on our Jornada, 
( journey). Traveled all day and all night, except 
the camps we made for the pony to feed and rest. 
At about day-break in the morning the waters spar- 
kled in the distance, which gave animation to both 
111 an and beast. 

We reached home the next Saturday, and spent 
the Sabbath with our own dear people, and might 



Spams/i and English Missions. 

have sung, 

"Home, home, sweet, sweet home." 

Glad to say that all our missionaries, except one, 
are doing well. We have at present four American 
missionaries and four helpers. The Lord is with us. 

.THOS. HARWOOD. 

Las Junta, X. M., July 16, 1874. 

P. S. — After spending the second Sunday at 
home, I went up to Cimarron and found our good 
Bro. Tolby at his post like a man of God. He has a 
good Sunday school, and a membership of a few 
persons. 

The Indians have just made a terrible raid near 
Cimarron, and in the same county. It is reported 
they killed upward of 20 people near there and at 
the Dry Cimarron ran off a vast amount of stock. 



^La Junta, X. ML, July 27, 1874. 

Rev. and Dear Bro. Mcrritt. — Dear Sir: We 
had joyfully anticipated being at your conference; 
but 'Lo. the poor Indian/ was on the war path, and 
that war path was on the conference road: and as 
there was to be quite a party of us, men, women and 
children, and all to be well armed, some poor In- 
dian might have got hurt. The disappointment is 
a great one. for we had thought so much of meeting 
with friends and our brethren in the mini-try. who 
share with us the labors, toils and victories of th^ 
work. God's will be done. 

"The raid in this and Colfax counties resulted hi 



—238— 

History of New Mexico 

the killing of some good men, about thirty in all, 
and a vast and wanton destruction of great num- 
bers of sheep and cattle, and a large number of 
horses run off. The Utes have offered their ser- 
vices to aid in driving the plains Indians out of the 
territory. I was at Fort Union this morning, and 
witnessed the crowning of a few of the fellows with 
military accoutrements. They go out as scouts. 
When the first one was equipped with his military 
outfit, he spoke up in English, and said : 'Big In- 
jin." It is thought here they will do good service. 

"We had here yesterday one of the most terrific 
thunder storms ever witnessed in New Mexico. We 
trembled for our lives and the church building. 
Right near the building four telegraph poles were 
struck (by lightning). Within a distance of less 
than half a mile, I think some eight poles were 
struck. The" Catholic convent on the west side of 
the river was struck. One man at Cimarron was 
killed. 

"I have noticed with pleasure the constant growth 
of Methodism in your conference. The tide of emi- 
gration has rolled that way. It has brought with 
it, I presume, many valuable accessions to the 
church. This, combined with the aggressive spirit 
of our ministry in Colorado, makes a fine showing 
for the conference. We have gained scarcely at all 
in New Mexico from immigration. Our brethren are 
at their posts, and laboring like men of God. 
Brother Steele, at Peralta, has a membership of 



Spanish and English Missions. 

sixty souls ; all are Mexicans. He has a good day 
school and a Sunday school of some fifty scholars, 
and has just received help from the Church Exten- 
sion Board to build or purchase church property. 
Brother Matthieson, at Socorro, is doing well; has 
two Sunday schools and two day schools, and quite 
a church membership; all are Mexicans. Brother 
Tolhy, of Cimarron and Elizabeth City, is doing 
well. His people are Americans, and not very re- 
ligious. He has good congregations and a Sunday 
school. Here at La Junta we are drawing our slow 
length along. Have had strong opposition from the 
Jesuits, who have lately erected a convent near lis. 
But we have been greatly encouraged from the fact 
that they have not been able yet to draw from, our 
school hardly a Catholic scholar even. Services in 
Knglish and Spanish here are well attended ; also the 
Sunday school. We have had six accessions to the 
church this spring, which is an increase of fifty pei 
cent, since June 1, 1874. Our hearts have been 
made almost to bleed in consequence of the failure 
of our brother at Mora. He was educated in ore 
of the best schools in Spain for the Catholic priest- 
hood ; came form that school with gilded honors and 
a D. D. to America, and attended a Presbyterian 
theological school two years, and was sent by the 
American Presbyterian board of missions to Xew 
Mexico, fie came to us last winter, but loves wine, 
lacks energy, and has no adaptation to the worV. 
V- e had to discontinue him. We have three liel^- 



—240 — 
History of Nezv Mexico 

ers. They are studying and will soon be able to 
take charge of work. The church building at Cir- 
uelita will soon be ready to dedicate. Our Mexican 
members, about one hundred in all, are not model 
Christians, but when we compare them with their 
Catholic brethren, we are not ashamed of them. 

"Our work is exceedingly difficult, but God is 
with us, and we are moving forward, and have a 
glorious future. When our brethren of Colorado 
shall come up with the blood-washed throng on 
the last day, bringing their sheaves with them, we, 
your fellow-laborers from this part of the vine- 
yard, hope to come, bringing in a few bundles with 
us. Tell my brethren of the conference to hold 
and hold out until we 'each with the other 
greet at the dear Redeemer's feet ;' for it will not be 
long until we shall hear notes sweeter than an an- 
gel's harp, the 'well done' of the father. 

"In Christ, 
"THOS. HARWOOD." 
FROM NEW MEXICO — ROMISH SUPER 
STITION. 

For the following very interesting letter, written 
to us from La Junta, New Mexico, on the 23d of 
last month w r e are indebted to Mrs. Harwood, the 
wife of Rev. Thomas Harwood, formerly of this 
State. The facts she tells us are a warning of what 
would occur here, should the same baleful super- 
stititon that curses New Mexico, spread its dark 
wings over the whole United States. — Eds. 



—241— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Your paper is a welcome visitor in our far off 
home, and it is with great interest we read of the 
progress of our church in the field of our former 
labors. We like the plain dealing with the great 
questions of the day — temperance, Catholicism, 
Protestants patronizing Catholic schools, etc., which 
we find in your paper and hope through it, you may 
accomplish a great work for Christianity in Wiscon- 
sin. Reading of the extensive revivals of religion 
and temperance all through the States, makes us 
almost homesick, and long to be back in the old fields 
with the conquering hosts who are marching on to 
victory; feeling that we are almost alone here, sur- 
rounded with Catholicism, infidelity, intemperance 
and wickedness of all descriptions. 

It does not require a great stretch of imagination 
to think we are back in the dark a^es of Cathoiit 
Europe, instead of here in the most enlightene i 
nation of the earth, in the nineteenth century. I be- 
lieve there is no country in the world, where the 
Roman Catholics are more Ultramontane and more 
under the control of the priests than in Xew Mexico. 
There are various reasons for this. The government 
allows them perfect freedom in all their practice-, 
such as processions, penance, marriage by the 
priests, charging exorbitant rates for baptisms, mar- 
riages, burials, etc., the priest taking one-tenth of a 
man's income. Another reason is, the idea they get 
of the Protestant religion from the Americans who 
call themselves Protestants but are not Christians. 



-242- 

History of A czv < \I extra 

Why then so much more interest is manifested by 
the church for foreign missions, as Old Mexico for 
instance, than for the same foreign population in 
New Mexico, when here they are citizens of our 
own country, is strange, but ''distance lends en- 
chantment to the view" in the missionary work as hi 
all others. 

Lent is kept in Xew Mexico in a manner thai 
would surprise many of your readers, and should 
they fully understand it, they would be convinced 
that it is not necessary to c r o out of our own coun- 
try to find semi-heathens, and that there is great 
need of missionary labor here. Many of the Mex- 
icans still continue the practice of punishing them- 
selves in various ways to atone for their sin. They 
are called pent ten tcs. They punish themselves all 
through Lent but the penitcnte processions com- 
mence Wednesday at midnight preceding Good Fri- 
day, and continue till midnight of Good Friday. 
In their processions, some of them carry huge 
crosses weighing from two to three hundred pound'.. 
Their limbs are bound tightly with ropes, their 
shoes have stones in them and sometimes they put 
branches of the cactus (prickly pear) under the 
bands of their drawers, and with a whip in one 
hand they lay the lashes on their bare backs till the 
blood flows to the ground. The crowd following, 
chanting in mournful strains, and often with tears 
flowing for the sufferers who are, in their eyes con 
eidered as martyrs. They close up the work Friday 



—243— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

night by marching to the Morada (church) and 
locking themselves in where the work of punishment 
is continued with great zeal till midnight. Two 
years ago,, they admitted Mr. Harwood to witness 
their closing ceremonies, though they scarcely ever 
admit any who are not in sympathy with them. 

Every year we hear of some who kill themselves 
in this way; last year two died only a few miles from 
here. The surviving pcnitcntes believe such \go 
straight to glory where they wear a martyr's crown. 
The government never interferes. As these pooi 
creatures are the most wicked and dangerous class 
of Mexicans, it is the most easy mode of getting rid 
of them. The day following Good Friday (Sabuclu 
de gloria) they, having atoned for the sins of the 
past year, begin with renewed zeal their varion . 
kinds of wickedness — drunkenness, stealing, de- 
bauchery and so forth. 

Go into some of their churches, or moradas, on 
Easter Sunday and you will see the blood on. ; he 
wa!I>, where it is spattered from their whippings. 

K. J. II A K WOOD. 

La Junta, N. M., Aug. 27, 1874. 
INDIANS AND JESUITS IN NEW MEXICO. 

BY MRS. E. J. HARWOOD. 

Since I last wrote summer has come and gone. 
It has been a very unusual season in New Mexico. 
The heat has been greater than for years. The 
weather at this altitude is generally delightful all 



-244 

History of New Mexico 

summer, never warm enough to be unpleasant in the 
shade, but during the past season it has been as 
warm as in Wisconsin. It has been very dry also, 
and water has been scarce for irrigation, so the 
crops are quite poor. The rainy season generally 
sets in here about the last of June, and continues 
till the autumnal equinox, but we have had only two 
or three rains during that time, this year. Though 
it has been so dry, we have had some terrible thun- 
der-storms. In one storm there were fourteen tele- 
graph poles struck by lightning in sight of our 
house. It struck all around us and very near. The 
convent, a short distance from us, was struck, and 
two holes were torn through the thick adobe walls. 
No one was hurt here, but at Cimarron, sixty miles 
north of us, a man was killed, while repairing the 
telegraph line, though it was perfectly clear at that 
place, the electricity passing along on the wire frorn 
the storm south. 

The greatest excitement we have had in the ter- 
ritory, during the past season, wa> cau-ed by the 
Indian raid. About forty persons were killed by 
the Indians and a large number of horses, mules 
and cattle driven off. Most of this occurerd about 
seventy miles northeast and south of this place. 
Some of the persons killed were brutally tortured 
and their bodies terribly mutilated. One man drew 
thirteen arrows from his flesh and broke them be- 
fore his strength failed. The Indians then tore his 
finger nails off, and cut out his tongue. 



—245 - 



Spamsh and English Missions. 

But it is needless to repeat the story of their 
cruelties, they are the same these heartless savages 
have practiced upon the settlers along the frontier 
whenever they have the opportunity. We notice in 
the Eastern papers, that the blame of these out- 
rages is laid on the white people, and the sympathy 
is all given to the "poor Indian/' Now, in this 
last raid the Indians came five hundred miles from 
their reservation ( where they ought to be compelled 
to stay) to murder and rob, and of course their vic- 
tims could never have wronged them, and it is no 
excuse for the Indians if they have been cheated by 
some dishonest official. 

The present Indian policy has proved a failure so 
far in preventing Indian outbreaks. This is the fifth 
summer we have spent in the territory and we have 
learned to look for trouble with the Indians as cer- 
tain as summer comes. It is to be hoped they will 
be punished this time, and not be received back at 
their agency in peace, with their hands stained with 
the blood of innocent victims, and with their vic- 
tim's scalps to testify to their bravery. This is gen- 
erally the way this "peace policy" works, but peace 
cannot be had with the Indians till they learn they 
will be punished for murder. 

Our missionaries in this territory are not only in 
danger from the Indians, but from the Romanists. 
Bro. Mattheison, at Socorro, has been shot at — the 
shot, coming from a funeral procession that was 
passing his house, passing near his head. At Per- 



-246— " 
History of .Ye:c Hex fro 

alta an attempt was made to break up our meeting 
and our native helper was attacked, but one of the 
attacking party was knocked down and badly hurt 
by the son of the helper, so they were frightened 
out of any further attempt of disturbance. Our 
work is prospering as well as could be expected 
among Catholic people. Mr. Harwood dedicates a 
new church among the natives to-morrow, twenty 
mile's from here. The services will be in Spanish. 
La Junta, New Mexico, Sept. 4, 1874. 



NEW MEXICO CORRESPONDENCE. 

We have just had a very pleasant, and I might 
say, novel church dedication service at Ciruelita, 20 
miles from here. 

This is our third church building in New Mexico. 
Like its feeble membership, it is small, being 
22x40x16 feet. It cost a little less than a thousand 
dollars, and was dedicated free of debt. With 
$300 aid from our noble Church Extension Society 
at Philadelphia, and the liberality of our scattered 
American people here, at La Junta and vicinity, 
and our helpers and Mexican brethren at Ciruelita 
"having a mind to work/' the church went up. A 
prouder people of a church building I have scarcely 
ever seen. Well, they have a right to be glad and 
rejoice, for their Catholic brethren have threatened 
and opposed and tried in almost every way to hinder 
us in our work. 

In making the adobes (brick dried in sunshine) 



—24 7 - 

Spanish tind English Missions. 

they were riot, like the poor Hebrews, required to 
"make brick without straw.'' but had to go 
miles for their straw. To make good adobes straw 
is indispensable. The water was also denied them 
in making their adobes. In this country most towns 
are supplied with water by means of aceqnias or 
ditches running from some river, creek, or spring. 
In this plaza the water is brought from a spring 
at the foot of a near mountain through these ditches 
into the different parts of the village. It is brought 
at the expense of the people, each man bearing his 
portion of the expense. The Protestants had, as 
they thought, being a little more energetic than their 
Catholic neighbors, borne more than their share of 
the expense. Yet they were denied the privilege of 
using the water to mix mortar for their adobes for 
the Church, and only gained their rights by threats 
of law. The Catholics had used the water for the 
adobes for their church the year before, and the 
Protestants helped to make them. 

The Catholic Bishop of the Territory came up, 
in the meantime, and harangued his people against 
the Protestants. He told them the Protestants were 
like the people who built the Tower of Babel — they 
wanted to get to heaven in their own way. Bur 
God was displeased, came down and confounded 
their language. So Pie will confound these Pro- 
testants. I have no doubt his people thought they 
saw great force in the illustration, and have anx- 
iously watched for our efforts in building to be 



-248— 
History of New Mexico 

confounded. They have threatened to tear down 
the building, and violence to the missionary, but 
thank God the missionary never fears their scoffs, 
nor threats, nor violent hands. 

When the Bishop arrived in Ciruelita, it is said 
the silly people met him with their carpets, blankets, 
shawls, etc., and strewed them in the way for him 
to walk on, and bowed in reverence and kissed his 
hand. What wonder when he, himself, would go to 
Rome and kiss the Pope's toe? What wonder, 
when our own, much-praised American people, 
would make such a demonstration, as was made in 
Santa Fe 20 years ago on the arrival of this same 
dignitary from Rome? 

The old Santa Fe Gazette of Nov. 25, 1854, gave 
a glowing account of his arrival and reception at 
Santa Fe, from which we infer that military officers, 
soldiers, and citizens acted as silly and sickish as did 
our priest-worshipping people of Ciruelita. A writei 
on this same affair, in the Quarterly Review of 
April, 1857, exclaimed, "What a prostitution or 
the American Army!" An overgrown German, a 
friend of mine, tells the following story. He says * 
"When the Bishop reached Las Vegas, on his 
arrival in this country, the people went out to escort 
him in." My friend was well dressed; and had on 
a long black overcoat, and the poor simple Mexican^ 
took him to be the bishop and commenced dropping 
upon their knees and kissing his hand. It took the 
big Dutchman by surprise, and he didn't know what 



—249— 

Spanish an J English Missions. 

else to do but to stand still and let them kiss him, 
and let it pass as a joke; but when the simple souls 
found they had made such a mistake they were ex- 
asperated, and our Dutch friend thought it expedient 
to hunt safer quarters. 

But back to the dedication. Our party were off 
bright and early Sunday morning, with four well 
loaded vehicles, out of the valley, over the hills, 
crossing the prairies, all too merry, perhaps, for the 
sanctity of the Sabbath. One of the school girls 
cried, "Stop, stop!" "What's the matter?" "Why, 
we've left the baby's dress." "That's so," said an- 
other, "and some one's got to go back and get it." 
"Yes," said another, "we girls have made a fine 
dress for that baby to be baptized in, and she's got 
to have it." "Oh, well," murmured one of the 
drivers, "who wants to go back four miles just to 
get a dress for a baby to be baptized in, its old dress 
will do just as well, she will never know the differ- 
ence." "Yes, she will know the difference," said 
one of the girls. "How will she?" said another. 
"Why, when she gets big someone will tell her and 
she will never forgive us." "Never forgive us?" 
"No, for letting her be baptized in an old dress when 
we girls had made her such a nice one." "Girls, you 
are right," responded one who had listened with in- 
trest to the sharp talk, "you are right in your 
theology for encouraging the baptism of children. 
It was kind in you to make the dress. I have no 
doubt you displayed taste in making a nice one, and 



—250— 
History oj New Mexico 

now, iii justice to yourselves and the babe and the 
babe's friends, the dress shall be sent for. Victor, 
take that horse, go back and get that dress. We 
will go on." Across the plains, over the mountains, 
up hill and down hill, and we were there. The peo- 
ple were gathering and at 10 :30 a. m., the exact 
hour, services were commenced, and soon we were 
freely perspiring in our efforts to preach the dedi- 
catory sermon in the Spanish language. Text: 
"Who commanded you to build this house?" Ans. 
"We are the servants of the God of heaven and 
earth." The sermon was followed by a stirring 
exhortation by Rev. J. H. Roberts, a young local 
preacher, student and helper. He read the receipts 
and expenditures for the church building, showing 
the house to be out of debt. He reminded the peo- 
ple that they had received aid from the Church at 
home and from the American people at La Junta 
and elsewhere, and hoped they would appreciate it. 
In the dedication of the new building, hoped all 
would dedicate their hearts to God. The trustees 
then presented the house for dedication. The house 
wcs then dedicated according to the forms of our 
own Church, translated into Spanish. It was then 
announced that we would have one hour for dinner 
and then two sermons by two of our native helpers, 
some baptisms, and the Lord's Supper adminis- 
tered. 

A few minutes and turkey and chickens, too nu- 
merous to be easily counted, with cakes and pies, 



—251— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

brought over from La Junta, by the kind ladies 
who were thoughtful enough to know that an early 
breakfast, twenty miles' ride, and an hour and a 
'.ialf service w r ould give an appetite, were being de- 
voured even to the astonishment of the natives, who 
were eagerly looking on from the outside. They 
soon found, however, that we were not stingy, and 
their readiness to participate with us, led to the re- 
mark "that if we could increase the 'loaves and 
fishes/ as the Savior did, we might have more fol- 
lowers/' But why bring our own dinners? Why 
not come Saturday, stay all night, and take your 
time for the work? Simply because there is no 
Bro. Smith nor Bro. Jones living there to keep a 
Methodist hotel. The Mexican people are very lib- 
eral, but we don't like their way of living. 

Services were resumed, and we listened to two 
interesting sermons, by the two native students and 
helpers. All seemed pleased with their efforts. Then 
followed the baptisms, in which two children were 
given to God in holy baptism. As solemn as are 
the work and ceremonies of infant baptism, we could 
hardly prevent a smile when we took the babe with 
the new dress, about which the sharp talk occurred 
in the morning. Oh, that we were as careful for 
the interior life of ourselves and friends as we are 
for external appearance. Then followed the ad- 
ministration of the Lord's Supper. And around 
that newly erected altar hearts were newly pledged 
and more deeply consecrated to the service of God. 



History or New Mexico 

Thus ended our first Sabbath in the new church, 
and we felt that God had recorded his name there, 
and that he would remember his promise to Israel : 
"In all places where I record my name I will come 
unto thee, and I will bless thee." The large and 
attentive congregation was dismissed, and we were 
off for home, which was reached a little after sun- 
set, with the reflection and query, whether 40 miles 
ride and all those exercises were really keeping or 
breaking the Fourth Commandment. 

THOS. HARWOOD. 

La Junta, N. M., Sept. 10, 1874. 



SCHOOLS IN NEW MEXICO, 

BY MRS. THOMAS HARWOOD. 

Not long since we noticed the statement in the 
N. W. Advocate, that there is not a public school- 
house in all New Mexico, and that a school law 
passed in 1856 was soon after repealed, and noth- 
ing was said of the law that was passed in 1871, »o 
I suppose the editor of that paper was ignorant of 
the fact. Some of our neighbors could not pardon 
the author of the mistake. 

The condition of the schools in the territory is 
sad enough, and a disgrace to any part of the 
Union; but we do not want the case made any 
worse than it really is. As to the public schoolhouse 
the statement may be true; but public schools have 
been kept in nearly every precinct since 71 for sev- 
eral months of each year. Hired houses have been 



Spanish and English Missions. 

used for the purpose. The law is quite a good one. 
or would be among Americans. Each county has 
four commissioners, elected annually, who have en- 
tire supervision of the schools. They employ teach- 
ers, select text books, decide in what locality the 
schools shall be. etc. To show how it works, I will 
give our county — Mora — as a specimen. We have 
three Mexican (the probate judge is one ex-ofRcio) 
commissioners, and a Catholic priest as one, so our 
public schools are nothing more nor less than Jesuit 
school-, where the priests have entire supervision., 
though they generally employ monks who are im- 
ported from some foreign country, and, of course, 
cannot teach English. The priests are opposed to 
the Mexican children learning the language of Pro- 
testantism. But little is taught in these schools ex- 
cept prayers, and the superstition of the Romish 
Church. "What a prostitution of the public funds." 
you will say. but there seems to be no help for it, tk 
present, as the Mexicans are so large a majority of 
the people. 

There were last year 133 public schools in the ter- 
ritory and 34 private schools. There are no schools 
of a high grade. Our Mission school at this place 
(La Junta), is the most advanced of any in the 
territory and it might be made a great success with 
sufficient means to erect suitable buildings. The 
Mexicans go a great deal on outward show and 
style and until we can have fine buildings we shall 
n >t be patronized much by the wealthy. They gen- 



—254— 
History of New Mexico 

erally send their children to the States to be edu- 
cated. 

The priests leave no means untried to break up the 
Protestant schools. They visit from house to house 
and threaten those parents with excommunication 
who will not withdraw their children. They have 
succeeded in breaking up some, but ours is still pros- 
perous, in spite of their anathemas. Our scholars 
are more than half children of Catholic parents, but 
some of them have joined our church. 

They have just built a convent here and sent three 
Jesuit priests to oppose us, and they have had all the 
public money the past winter, but it does not affect 
our school at all. They have closed theirs for lack 
of funds, but ours will continue till the first of July. 

With your permission, Mr. Editor, I will address 
a tew words to the "Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society." 

These public schools leave the girls out in the cold 
(with very few exceptions), as the Catholics will 
not educate the sexes together, so there is a great 
work to be accomplished here for the women, and 
while you are doing so much to elevate your sisters 
in foreign lands, why not have a share in the honor 
of raising the women of New Mexico? Could you 
understand their degraded condition, you would see 
the importance of this work. The Mexican women 
have great influence, as the following facts will 
show. Enterprising, intelligent Americans come 
here and marry Mexican women. The woman who 



Spanish and English Missions. 

can not read and knows upon religious matters only 
what her priest tells her, always has her way in the 
education of the children and they are always 
brought up. Catholics, however much he may 
wish it to be otherwise, so in order to 
accomplish much for Christianity here, something 
must be done for the girls, and it seems to me it 
belongs to the ladies of our churches to do it. Or- 
phanages in connection with our Missions here 
would be of great service, where girls could be 
trained to go out as Christian workers among their 
own sisters. If you can not aid us in Xew 
Mexico, under your constitution could you not have 
it changed so as to include Xew Mexico? The na- 
tives here are foreign in respect to language, cus- 
toms and everything which pertains to American 
civilization as the people of any foreign country, 
except they have learned from Americans. 



THE WORK IX XEW MEXICO. 

BY JOHN STEELE. 

Methodism has, at last, a local habitation in Cen- 
tral Xew Mexico. The finest property in Peralta, 
fronting two hundred and ten feet on the plaza, 
large house, and over two acres of ground, was 
recently secured by deed of warranty to the Church 
Extension Society. That noble right arm of the 
mission cause gave us five hundred dollars. Provi- 
dence provided the opportunity. There has been 
added to the original five hundred dollars nearly 



—256— 
History of New Mexico 

seven hundred dollars, making the entire investment 
about twelve hundred dollars. By necessary repairs 
and modifications, now going on, we will soon have 
ample accommodations for church, school and par- 
sonage. And in justice it should be stated, that 
without the aid of the Church Extension Society we 
could not have taken the first step in this enterprise. 

Our people are jubilant over the acquisition. It 
has, certainly, greatly increased their faith, energy, 
and self-respect. The idea of a great Christian 
society, not only in prayerful sympathy with them, 
but extending material aid, gave courage to those 
who had been intimidated, and inspirited all with a 
mind to work. Accordingly, the people came for- 
ward with their offerings, and soon we were able 
to send six heavy wagons, each with its long train 
of oxen or mules attached, to a saw-mill some forty 
miles distant in the mountains, for lumber to make 
the necessary repairs, etc., upon the church prop- 
erty. 

The next morning Bro. Ambrosio Gonzales and 
I followed on mules, intending to visit the various 
mountain villages, preach where we could find 
opportunity, do all the pastoral work possible, and 
be present at the purchase and selection of the lum- 
ber. A few miles from Peralta we met the oxen 
on their way home. The men who had been de- 
tailed to guard them during the night, had fallen 
asleep, and the oxen, having no special interest in 
the enterprise, took advantage of the calm, bright 



— J257— 

Spanish unci E}igli$h Missions. 

moonlight, to wend their way back. Collecting them 
into the trail, we hurried them toward the camp, 
but it was past noon before the wagons were again 
under way. Hurrying on, in advance of the train, 
we soon reached the village of Tijeras. Our mis- 
sion work had led us here before, and we were glad 
to find the leaven of gospel truth still at work, not- 
withstanding the terrible threatenings of Rome. 

Here we met with an old lady, recently converted, 
and quite demonstrative in her faith. For fifty 
years she had lived in the most devout subjection to 
the Church of Rome, kneeling daily before a wooden 
image of her patron saint (San Felipi), and implor- 
ing his intercession. Some time since, while visit- 
ing some friends in Peralta, she head the Scriptures 
read, and the way of salvation explained, and, under 
the power of God's "Word, her life-long prejudice 
gave way, and she was converted to Christ. Her 
husband and family were all devout Romanists, and 
their horror and disgust may be imagined, when 
they saw her, on her return home, instead of kneel- 
ing piously before the wooden image, deliberately 
put it into the fire; and neither persuasion nor 
threats could again bring her under the bondage of 
Rome. Firmly resolved to stand fast in the liberty 
wherewith Christ hath made her free, her family 
began to respect her religion, and she also to realize 
the truth, a^ expressed by St. Paul — "Love neA er 
faileth." Fifteen miles further brought us to San 
Antonito, in the heart of the mountain-, and nea r 



—258— 
History of New Mexico 

the summit of the divide between the valleys of the 
Rio Grande and Rio Pecos. Many parts of this 
mountain chain are well adapted to agriculture — 
no better soil in the world for wheat, while the 
summer rains generally relieved the labor of irriga- 
tion. They also abound in mineral wealth. Mil- 
lions of gold have been taken from these mines, 
while copper, iron, and coal seem to exist in inex- 
haustible quantities ; but as yet this vast wealth re- 
mains undeveloped. Gold and copper mining re- 
ceive some attention, but the beds of coal and iron 
are not disturbed. As it was dark when we reached 
San Antonito, and receiving a cordial welcome from 
an intelligent Mexican, we spent the night at his 
house. We had visited this place some weeks be- 
fore; had conversed with this man and his family, 
and although professed Romanists, they had become 
interested, and desired to know more of the Bible 
and Protestantism. He evidently struck a key-note 
when he asked, ''Why is it that the great body of 
the Roman Catholic people are ignorant and poor, 
while the great body of the Protestants are edu- 
cated and prosperous ?" 

Late at night the cracking of whips and clamor 
of dogs announced the arrival of our train, and 
with the dawn we were away for the mill, which 
we found on a beautiful pine-clad slope, near the 
hamlet of Madera. A little after dark we finished 
loading the wagons, and as it was Saturday nigh*-, 
the teams wer« driven into a mountain gorge, wliero 



— 259— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

grass was abundant, that they might rest during the 
Sabbath. The Sabbath was calm and bright, and 
our quiet camp, beneath the tall pines, was soon 
transformed into a camp-meeting. At first the peo- 
ple thought it strange we did not travel, and were 
inclined to sympathize with us. thinking we had 
lost our teams. Some evidently were not aware 
that it was the Sabbath, and all seemed to think it a 
strange Protestant doctrine, when we told them thru 
the Lord of the Sabbath had commanded to do no 
work therein. The day was devoted to preaching, 
singing and prayer, and although our congregation 
was small, it was attentive, some indicating the 
deepest interest. One man. who said he was the 
father of a family of twelve, lingered with us until 
a late hour, talking of the Bible and practical reli- 
gion. He was evidently convinced of the truth, but 
feared the vengeance of Rome should he leave that 
church ; said he was not afraid of what his neigh- 
bors would do. if his wife and family were not 
against him. On Monday morning our herdsmen 
reported twenty of the oxen missing. Thinking that 
they had probably taken the road home. I started 
with my mule to overtake them, while the other- 
continued to search in the ravines. Vainly explor- 
ing the glens on either side of the road until near 
noon, I abandoned the search (they were found 
within an hour after I left camp), and pushed on 
for Peralta, reaching home in the early part of the 
rieht. We found Mrs. Steele with a few anxious 



History of Nezv Mexico 

friends gathered at the death-bed of Bro, Juan 
Chaves, one of our most exemplary members. He 
was among the first in Peralta to break from the 
bondage of Rome ; and through all the years of per- 
secution, he lived a firm, quiet, consistent Christian 
life; poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith — 
a joint heir with Christ. With a few friends, and 
his sorrowing family, we knelt around his humble 
couch, and, in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, 
commemorated the dying Savior's love. Fully 
realizing the approach of death, he conversed with 
and prayed for his family, earnestly commending 
them to the God of the widow and the fatherless, 
and his work was done. The triumph over death 
was perfect. His reply to one of my questions told 
it all. "My soul has perfect peace." His physical 
sufferings were intense, and Mrs. S. remarked, 
"How I wish you had a good physician." Looking 
at her earnestly, and pointing upward, he replied. 
"My -Physician is in heaven." The morning was to 
him the dawn of eternity; with its first beams the 
Good Sheph'erd took our brother home. Shortly af- 
ter our good brother's decease, his sister-in-law, a 
member of the Roman Catholic Church, with the 
sympathy which characterizes the Mexican people, 
came to visit her bereaved sister. After a few mo- 
ments' conversation she repeated with horror, "Oil, 
I have broken my oath! I have broken my oath!" 
When sufficiently composed, she related the fact 
that last spring she had attended Protestant service, 



—261 - 



Spanish and English Missions, 



and for this offense, before her confessor would 
grant her absolution, he compelled her to bind her 
soul with a solemfi oath that she would never again 
speak to any of her Protestant friends ; but in her 
grief, upon hearing of her sister's bereavement, she 
had forgotten it. What penitential sufferings or 
other vows she will find it necessary to assume, in 
order to be absolved of her broken obligation, T 
suppose remains to be determined by her confessor; 
but may we not ask. Is it the church of Christ which 
binds upon its members such intolerable burdens? 

Our lumber train did not reach Peralta until Sat- 
urday : a terrible hail-storm and broken wagon caus- 
ing the delay. But now, by the blessing of heaven, 
we expect to carry forward the work until we have 
a pleasant church, where all will feel that they are 
welcomed to the worship of God, a cheerful school- 
room, with suitable apparatus and furniture, and a 
parsonage which in neatness and convenience will 
be a suggestive missionary among our neghbors ; 
for next to the knowledge of Christ, the Mexican 
people need a correct idea of home. 



In my Annual Report to New York for 1875 I 
wrote as follows : 

The work has been hard, but full of interest. As 
we advance new responsibilities arise and the inter- 
est deepens. 




-262— 
History o f New Mexico 

We are opposed on every hand, but if God be for 
us, who can be against us? Seeing that our forms 
of religion make the people wiser, better and hap- 
pier than they were under the long worn forms and 
ceremonies of Romanism we shall continue to shout 
along our feeble lines the inspiring order, forward! 

Our progress is slow for we are not laboring 
among a people where a nation is born in a day. 
But when we call to mind that our membership has 
increased nearly 40 per cent, during the past year, 
the church property about the same and that our 
ministerial strength is six, all save one can preach in 
Spanish, we feel encouraged. 

But in the midst of our rejoicing, death, by an 
assasin's hand, has cut down a fellow laborer and 
our rejoicing is checked. 

Rkv. F. J. Tolby Dead. 

Our dearly beloved Brother F. J. Tolby, whom 
you sent from the Northwest Indiana conference 
two years ago is dead. He was shot and killed on 
the 14th day of September, 1875, while returning 
from one of his appointments at Elizabethtown. He 
had labored nearly two years at Cimarron and 
Elizabethtown and did the church good service. He 
was a rising man, bold and fearless in the pulpit 
and out of it. He made many friends on his circuit 
and in the territory and was hopeful for the fu- 
ture of his work and the territory ; but in the midst 
of his hopes and labors, in the noonday of his life 



— 263 - 



Sfanisk and English Missions. 

he was cut down. but. like a warrior, fell from his 
saddle in the midst of the strife. 

A Visit Home. 
This year, 1875. early in the Spring, I began to 
plan for a visit to my old home in Deleware and 
Maryland. I had not been back since I left in 1852. 
The thought of a visit to my childhood home was 
thrilling. 

Campmeeting. 

I went via Cimarron, where we had a good visit 
with Bro. Tolby and family. Mrs. Harwood and 
her sister, now Mrs. Elizabeth Tipton were with 
me as far as Trinidad. I then went on to Denver 
to attend the Colorado conference; thence via Chey- 
enne, Omaha, Chicago, Washington, Baltimore, 
Wilmington, Dover, Delaware, where my brother 
was buried, thence out to my brother, James', place 
and a campmeeting was being held right near his 
place. What a pleasure to meet so many of my rel- 
atives and friends after 23 years' absence. 
What Chaxges! 

What changes had taken place! Twenty-three 
years cut out of the springtime of life makes a won- 
derful gap. I did not at first know my own brother. 
When I left home he was a beardless boy, now a 
man with a large family and he himself beginning to 
show age. But what a campmeeting. Several thou- 
sand people there on Sunday and a large number of 
preachers. There was only one I knew and that 
was Ignatius Cooper. D.D.. of Camden. Del. When 



-264— 
History of N&w Mexico 

a boy he was my ideal preacher, When he rose to 
take his text I said to myself, "This will be the hap- 
piest occasion of my life." His text was Rom. 
5 ; 6-8, "For when we were yet without strength, in 
due lime Christ died for the ungodly., for scarcely 
for a rigteous man will one die; yet peradventurc 
for a good man some would even dare to die. But 
God commandeth his love toward us in that while 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It was a 
good sermon, but fell far short of my expectati )n, 

The program for the day had been fixed, but 
nothing w^ould do but that I must preach and the 
time was fixed at 4 p. m. I started in by saying that 
I have caught cold in this low altitude, my voice 
seemed weak, but what I lack in voice I hope will 
be made up (just then Dr. Cooper whispered to an- 
other "in ability"). I said, "No, but in your most 
prayerful attention." Text: Act. 20, 28, "Almost 
thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Outline — 
Almost persuaded, almost a Christian. Fully per- 
suaded, fully a Christian. 

I soon found myself beyond any particular dread 
except from one of my early school teachers. He 
sat in front, close to the pulpit. I soon saw a tear 
in his eye and dreaded him no longer. I am never 
afraid of the criticisms of one who weeps. I once 
preached at General Howard's headquarters just 
after the battle at the Salikahatchic Swamps in 
South Carolina. For a few minutes I dreaded the 
General, but soon saw a tear in his eye, as I was 



—265— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

talking from the text : "Thou God se est me," and 
dreaded him no longer. 

Tender and Lasting Impressions. 
What lasting impressions that camp-meeting 
madeupon my mind. It was almost 32 years ago. 
The tented grove, where in my boyhood days I 
used to play with those who have long since passed 
away. The assembled multitudes from far and 
near. The wonderful sermons ; the stirring exhor- 
tations; the grand singing; the penitents' plea for 
mercy at the altar; and the shouts of praise have 
come before me in panoramic beauty thousands of 
times. One scene especially yet lovingly lingers in 
my mind. It was my own brother, James, with an 
aged brother standing on a bench late at night sing- 
ing with such apparent joy, "I Am So Glad That 
Jesus Loves Me." These have both long since 
passed away. After the camp-meeting I visited the 
house in which I was born, sauntered over the 
fields, among the trees, along the ditches in which 
we used to fish, and wade and swim, and where 
mother was afraid we would fall into deep water 
and be drowned, and I wondered what had become 
of the big ditch and the deep water. All was so 
changed. Everything looked so small to what it did 
in early boyhood days. I visited the old school, 
churches, cemeteries and stood by the graves of my 
mother, father, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, 
grandparents and friends. My oldest sister who 
died in 1844 rests in the old family cemetery in the 



—266— 
History oj New Mexico 

edge of the Eastern shores of Maryland. Her last 
words to me were, "I am going home, meet me in 
heaven." My mother who passed away in 1850. 
rests in Wesley Chapel Cemetery at Dover, Del. 
Her last words were, "Oh, that I had breath to tell 
you what I see, but I haven't, but meet me there/ 
But duty calls and I must go. So with little Tommy, 
the gift of my brother James I left for my work in 
New Mexico. 

At Chicago I visited our Book Concern, the office 
of the Northwestern Christian Advocate and learned 
of the assassination of our dear brother, Tolby. I 
hurried home as fast I could and found the country 
in great excitement. Mrs. Tolby and her. three 
children were literally crushed. 

Theories of thk Assassination. 

All the territorial papers were full of the probable 
causes which led to his assassination and utterances 
against the perpetrators of such a dastardly deed. 
A Trip to Taos. 

We had heard that a certain Mexican from Taos 
had said, on his return to Taos from the Elizabeth- 
town country where the murder took place "That <\ 
Protestant heretic had been killed. " This being 
before it was known in his own neighborhood led 
us to believe that he must know something about 
it and hence the trip over to his place. So I had one 
of our boys at school go over with me. We went 
via Cimarron, Elizabethtown, spent a few days at 
Taos, but couldn't find the man who had spread the 



—267— 

Sfanish and English Missions, 

news. The man was afterwards found, tried and 
before anything definite could be learned he was 
shot in the dark as he was being taken from the 
court room at Cimarron to the jail. The fact is the 
excitement was so great that hardly any one was 
safe. Quite a number of supposed innocent parties 
were suspected, some left the country in the excite- 
ment and several others lost their lives. Even some 
of the members of the courts were suspected, lives 
threatened and such was the excitement that it was 
thought unsafe to hold the courts next approaching 
and they were moved from Cimarron, Colfax coun- 
ty over to Taos. Two other suspected men, Mexi- 
cans also, had been killed. The excitement and 
danger were greatly intensified by the unwise efforts 
upon the part of the Rev. O. P. McMains who 
spent much time in trying to ferret out the case and 
bring the guilty parties to arrest. 

If there were others mixed up in the case other 
than the three who lost their lives as heretofore 
given, I have always thought the unwise methods 
of Mr. McMains served to cover up the tracks of 
evidence and they have jiever been found. 

My Own Theory. 

With many other theories as to the assassination 
of Mr. Tolby I give my own which to me has always 
been the most reasonable. I reason it this way: 
Murder is a terrible thing. No sane man will take 
the life of another without some motive. These mo- 
tives generall hinge on one or two or three things : 



—268— 
History oj New Mexico 

malice, gain, or some political intrigue. In the mur- 
der of Mr. Tolby none of these could hardly be the 
cause. He was a man loved by all so far as we 
could possibly learn. As to gain he had nothing 
except his horse and that was not taken. The mur- 
der occurred about 8 miles below Elizabethtown and 
the horse was led up into a near canon and tied and 
left. As to political tricks and intrigues that could 
hardly be named, as he was not a politician. But 
there is 

A Fourth Motive. 
which is often resorted to in this country and that 
will appear in a moment further along. 

The reader will remember that I spent a Sabbath 
with Mr. Tolby on my way East. He told me at 
that time about a pistol fight he had witnessed in 
which a Mexican had shot an American. The 
American fell. "The Mexican rushed upon him 
and would have killed him likely if I had not stop- 
ped him," said Mr. Tolby. Mr. Tolby seemed won- 
derfully wrought up over this case and said : "I 
intend to go before the grand jury at the next court 
and have that fellow indicted if I possibly 
can," He did so. Mr. Tolby was the only 
witness. Now this Mexican, knowing that Mr. 
Tolby, the Protestant heretic, as we were commonly 
called those days and still are, was the only one 
who could appear as a witness against him, how 
natural it was he should try to get that witness out 
of the way. To kill Mr. Tolby or get him killed 



—269 

Spafitsh and English Missions. 

was the only way to destroy that evidence. This 
man was a captain of a band of Penitentes. He had 
a friend, I think a nephew, carrying the horseback 
mail between Cimarron and Elizabethtown on the 
same road that Mr. Tolby had to take in his ap- 
pointment. How natural that he should arrange 
with this friend of his to do the deed. But it is said 
that a Mexican must always have an accomplice to 
aid him in any bad deed. This suggests the idea of 
the Taos man who was known to have been over 
from Taos at about that time. 

Suffice it to say that the three men named above 
lost their lives. J said "named above." I remem- 
ber well their names, but as the most of their pres- 
ent friends are doing well, so far as I know, and 
there is such an odium connected with murder I 
have avoided using their names myself. 

I will here drop this painful and mysterious af- 
fair so far as my own pen is concerned and let others 
who wrote at the time finish it. 



THE MURDER CHARGED TO McMAINS. 

BY S. B. AXTELL. 

To the Editor of the Optic. 

Santa Fe, January 31. — The debate in the U. S. 
senate over the resolution offered by Senator Chand- 
ler to inquire into the maltreatment of Henry J. 
Franz, at Aberdeen, in the state of Mississippi, re- 
calls to my mind an incident in our own Territorial 
history. Some fifteen years ago, McMains, whose 



—270— 
History of New Mexico 

name has acquired such a forlorn notoriety, was a 
Methodist preacher in good standing. His zeal to 
discover the murderers of another Methodist 
preacher by the name of Tolby, caused him to take 
part in a most brutal and treacherous murder. He 
suspected a poor Mexican of knowing something 
about the murder of Tclby. He decoyed this man 
out of the settlement He called a band of desper- 
adoes to assist him, and then commenced an ex- 
amination by torture. They dragged the witness 
by the neck ; they hung him up and let him down ; 
they beat him with revolvers ; they shot him and left 
him hanging dead to a telegraph pole. McMains 
w r as not only a part of the band who did it, but he 
planned and instigated the whole affair. Of course, 
his excuse was that his intentions were good, and 
he did not think it would go so far. McMains was 
finally, after much trouble, indicted, and put upon 
his trial for murder, and then arose such a yell all 
along the Methodist line! McMains was a martyr! 
McMains was persecuted! A Methodist bishop 
wentfrom St. Louis to Washington to invoke the aid 
of the government to save poor, persecuted, inno- 
cent, saintly, sanctified McMains. The powers at 
Washington were hot, and the attorney general of 
the United States was directed to take measures for 
the immediate release of the afflicted Mc. Now 
commences a pleasant little study that will give some 
senators a headache in this Aberdeen business. The 
attorney general of the United States at once tele- 



—271 



Spanish and English Missions. 

graphed to the United States attorney for the dis- 
trict of New Mexico, to stay all proceedings in the 
case of McMains till further advised from this de- 
partment. 

The said United States attorney for the said 
district of New Mexico aforesaid, replied that he 
had the honor to inform the department of justice 
that he had no connection whatever with the case; 
that McMains had been indicted under the Terri- 
torial laws of Xew Mexico, and the case against him 
was being prosecuted by the attorney general of 
Xew Mexico, and he had the honor to be, etc. 
The attorney general of the United States then im- 
mediately telegraphed the same orders, to suspend 
proceedings, etc., to the attorney general of New 
Mexico. The reply, in this case, was very brief, but 
directly to the point. It was to the effect that the 
attorney general of New Mexico exercised his duties 
by virtue of the laws of New Mexico, and held his 
appointment from the governor of said Territory, 
and with all due respect, etc., he could not legally 
receive any instructions from the attorney general 
of the United States. The attorney general of the 
most-all powerful administration could not clearly 
discern any light, but he could grope, so he tele- 
graphed to the governor of the Territory to suspend 
all legal proceedings in the case of McMains. The 
then governor was perhaps the mildest mannered 
man who ever, etc., and he replied to the attorneA* 
general of the United States that the aforesaid Mc- 



—272— 
History of Nezv Mexico 

Mains had been indicted by a grand jury for the 
crime of murder, and that he was then actually on 
his trial for said crime; that the trial was presided 
over by his honor, the chief justice of the Territory, 
t an upright and conscientious judge, and that he, the 
said mild mannered governor aforesaid, did not see 
his way clear to stop the trial. And at this point 
the correspondence between the Territorial officials 
and the attorney general of the United States ended, 
and the law was allowed to take its course. 

S. B. AXTELL. 
AN ANSWER TO JUDGE AXTELL. 

BY THOS. HARWOOD. 

To the Editor of the Optic. 

Socorro, N. M., February 6th, 1890. — I cannot 
but feel that Judge S. B. Axtell, in his article in a 
recent issue of the Optic, is too severe on poor, un- 
fortunate McMains. 

It would, however, better become some of the 
friends of McMains to come to his defense than for 
me, one against whom he formerly said so many 
hard things. But these count nothing when the 
truth is at stake. I have waited to see what his 
friends would say in reply to the Judge's article, 
but no one speaks, and so I come, not so much in his 
defense, however, as in the defense of the truth in 
the case. But the truth, as it was brought to light 
in his trial, would greatly mitigate the severity of 
the judge's statement in the article referred to, if we 
had the space to do it. I do not mean to insinuate 



—273— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

that the judge has intentionally misrepresented the 
case, for I presume he has presented it just as he 
understands it and as it was talked and believed at 
the time, near fifteen years ago, and the courts failed 
to make out as clear a case as the article now makes. 

McMains was tried for murder in the first degree. 
The case was before an impartial judge. The case 
was presented by a state prosecuting attorney, and 
before a well-selected jury. Plenty of time was 
given for the hearing of the case. Right here, let it 
be remembered that an American was on trial for 
his life, not only an American, but a Protestant 
minister — a Protestant heretic. And that Protestant- 
heretic was on trial, charged with the brutal lynch- 
ing of a Mexican Roman Catholic. That trial was 
before a jury of nine Mexican Romanists and three 
Americans, not one of whom was a member of Mc- 
Mains' church. And yet that jury, the best it could 
do for the state, was a verdict of ' 'defendant guilty 
of murder in the fifth degree," and the penalty affix- 
ed was the payment of $300. To many who heard 
the evidence, the above was thought to be unreason- 
ably severe. But in the verdict, the word murder 
was in some way left out, and it read, "guilty in the 
fifth degree," and as it did not state what the de- 
fendant was guilty of, it was claimed to be no verdict 
at all and a continuance of the case was asked, which 
was granted. 

Mr. McMains was present at the next term of 
court to meet the case. His attorneys asked for a 



-274- 
History of New Mexico 

change of venue from Mora county to Colfax, 
which was granted, and at the approaching session 
at Cimarron, in Colfax county the case was thrown 
out of court by judge, now Governor L. Bradford 
Prince. Thus ended the long and vexed affair. 

Surely if McMains had been guilty of such a 
crime as the judge says he was, the courts acted 
strangely to throw the case out. 

The judge says McMains decoyed this man (Cruz 
Vega) out of the settlement, what he called a band 
of desperadoes to assist him and then commenced an 
examination by torture. 4 'They dragged the wit- 
ness by the neck; they hung him up and let him 
down ; they beat him with revolvers ; they shot him 
and left him hanging dead to a telegraph pole/' 
He says McMains was not only a part of the band 
who did it, but he planned and instigated the whole 
affair. I say again the courts failed to prove that 
Mr. McMains aided , in the above named brutality, 
but, on the other hand, he tried and did all he could 
to save the man from injury, but was powerless in 
the hands of the men who were present. Of course 
it was a mistake to intrust the interviewing of a 
man in the hands of men w T hom he could not control. 
But believing as he did for good reasons that this 
man, Cruz Vega must have known something about 
the murder of Mr. Tolby, and as the whole country, 
including the courts, were anxious to find a clue to 
the dark, mysterious affair, he risked more perhaps 
than he otherwise would have done. Had he bee i 



—275— 

Spanish and English Missions, 
successful in finding a link in the mysterious chain 
of evidence without injury to the man, as he hoped 
to do, the courts and the country would have praised 
him. 

Let us let the case rest where the courts left it. 
And as to the "yell all along the Methodist line/ 1 
that "McMains was a martyr" and that a "Method- 
ist Bishop went from St. Louis to Washington to 
invoke the aid of the government to save poor, per- 
secuted, innocent, saintly, sanctified McMains/' I 
think is altogether too strong. Bishop Bowman 
was the only Methodist Bishop residing in St. Louis 
at that time. I remember he went east to meet the 
board of Bishops to arrange for their summer and 
fall conferences, and it is possible he went via Wash- 
ington, but, to "invoke the aid of government," I 
never heard of it before. 

THOS. HARWOOD. 



1876 

This is the Centennial of our country, the One 
Hundredth Anniversary of our Republic. We cele- 
brated the occasion on the 4th of July. The people 
came from far and near. It was the only celebra- 
tion, so far as I know, in the territory. We didn't 
know that there were so many American people in 
the territory. Hon. W. D. Lee, late from LaFay- 
ette, Indiana, and now from Vermejo. Colfax Coun- 
ty, this territory, made the principle address. All 
were delighted with it. Hon. A. J. Calhoun, from 



—276— 
History of New Mexico 

Cimarron, late in the territorial legislature, presided. 
Mrs. Harwood, with her assistant teachers and stu- 
dents from our Tiptonville school rendered an inter- 
esting program of school exercises. One young man 
spoke an original piece, which was well received. 
The president pronounced it the finest piece he had 
ever; heard. When he found out who composed it 
he had no more to say. Miss Lizzie Duncan, now 
Mrs. Doctor Tipton, Mrs. Harwood's sister, pre- 
sided at the organ. The celebration was on the Sa- 
pello River near where Watrous now is. 

This being the first celebration of the kind ever 
held in New Mexico, so far as we know, would 
naturally excite considerable attention, hence people 
came from Las Vegas, Fort Union, Ocate, Cimarron, 
Rayado. It is wonderful how few of the people who 
attended that celebration are living today, at least 
in the same neighborhood. 

Our First Annual Meeting. 

The First Annual Meeting of the Mission was 
held at Peralta, Valencia County, about 20 miles 
south of Albuquerque, on the Rio Grande, Nov. 20. 
1876. The superintendent called the meeting and 
presided at the same. Rev. George Murray was 
secretary of the English and Rev. John Steele of the 
Spanish. 

The meeting was opened by reading 1 Cor., 13 
chapter in English by the superintendent and Span- 
ish by Rev. Ambrosio Ganzales and prayer in Span- 
ish by Bro. Ambrosio. 



—277- 



Spamsh and English Missions, 

The following named were present : 

Thos Harwood. Superintendent of the Mission. 

John Steele, of Peralta. 

Ambrosio Gonzales, assistant at Peralta. 

Benito Garcia, at Ciruelita. 

George Murray, Cimarron. 

George Murray was elected secretary in English 
and John Steele in Spanish. 

The superintendent read and translated into 
Spanish, paragraphs 259 and 260 of the Discipline, 
under which the work of the Conference was 
brought. The Conference selected Peralta as the 
place for the next annual meeting and the Bishop 
having Episcopal supervision of the Mission, was 
invited to visit us at our next meeting. 
The following were the appointments : 
Superintendent of the Mission — Thos Harwood 
Cimarron and Elizabethtown — to be supplied. 
Ciruelita — Benito Garcia. 

Socorro — M. Matthieson. M Barela, assistant, 
Valverde — Bias Gutierres. 
Silver City — Geo. Murray. 
Las druces — J. H. Roberts. 

Bro. Roberts had his team stolen and could not 
attend the Conference. 

Visits. 

I have visited during the year, Cimarron, Eliza- 
bethtown, Vermejo and Red River, Ocate, and Fort 
Union several times ; Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Albu- 
querque, Peralta, Socorro." Manzano, Valverde, Las 



-278— 
History of New Mexico 

Cruces, Silver City, only once each place. At Oocor- 
ro we dedicated Bro. Matthieson's chapel. Also 
Bro. Steele's Church at Peralta. We named the 
Church Kynett Chapel, in honor of Dr. Kvnett, the 
very able Corresponding Secretary of the Board of 
ChurchExtension, who resided at 1026 Arch street, 
Philadelphia. The Board aided for the purchase of 
property $800, and on the building $1,000. The 
pastor did much of the work with his own hands, 
amounting to over $1,500. It was while working 
at the bench at this place he was shot at from the 
outside of the building, the bullet lodging in the 
door casing. 

The bell at Peralta was a donation of the Spring 
Garden M. E. Sunday School, Philadelphia, and 
sounded out its first peals on the 4th day of July, 
and hence it is called "The Centennial Bell." 



CENTENNIAL AT LA JUNTA. 

LAS VEGAS GAZETTE. 

The Fourth was observed in the Valley yesterday 
with an interest we have never witnessed before. 
The people seemed to realize that it was the first 
Centennial they had ever celebrated, and as it might 
be their last, were disposed to make the best of it 
they could. Since days "should speak and a multi- 
tude of years should teach wisdom," and, as the 
wheels of time had glided swiftly and safely along 
the track of the nation's life, until the moss-covered 
mile stone of a hundred years rose up before us. 



— 279 - 



Spanish and English Missions. 

bidding- us pause in our flight, it is but natural that 
we take the latitude and longitude of our where- 
abouts, and listen to the voices that are echoing after 
us. What a volume the century past is speaking. 
A thousand thunders cannot equal its voice. Of all 
the centuries since creation, the one just past is the 
most important. What momentous issues. What 
startling events have transpired during the past cen- 
tury, and what a multitude of lessons to be studied 
from the past. Dr. Young has well said 

"We take no note of time but by its loss : 
To give it then a tongue is wise in man." 

A beautiful grove on the banks of the Sapello. 
near Gregg's Hotel, had been selected. The same 
place where we celebrated a year ago. The trees 
trimmed, the grove seated, stand erected, and full 
preparations had been made, including tents, cannon 
and some martial music from Fort Union. 

At 11a. m., almost every man, woman and child 
from the neighborhood were on the ground, with 
numerous visitors from Fort Union, Ocate, Las 
Vegas, Rayado and elsewhere, making an assem- 
blage of probably six or seven hundred people. A 
salute was fired, one gun for each state in the Union, 
and one for each territory. The president of the 
day, Hon. A. J. Calhoun, called the audience to or- 
der, and the hymn commencing, "Great God of Na- 
tions," was sung, Miss Lizzie Duncan presiding at 
the organ. Prayer was then offered by Rev. Thos. 
Harwood. 



-280— 
History o f New Mexico 

An original poem was then spoken by Master 
Clarence Chandler. The Declaration of American 
Independence was then read by S. H. Wells, Esq., 
Mr. Wells prefaced the reading with a few very ap- 
propriate remarks. 

An oration was then delivered by Hon. W. D. 
Lee, late of Indiana, but now a resident of Vermejo, 
in Colfax county. The Star Spangled Banner was 
then sung, and the audience adjourned for dinner. 

A table 100 feet by 4, richly laden with weli- 
cooked turkeys, chickens, hams, bread, cakes, pies, 
etc., almost ad infinitum. Well, we never could do 
justice in such a case with a pen. 

The exercises in the afternoon were opened with 
the playing and singing of a Centennial Hymn. 

Then was read an able and well pre-pared his- 
torical sketch of Mora County by George W. 
Gregg, Esq. 

Then was sung an original Centennial Hymn. 
Then followed a spicy essay by Dr. Gardner, of Fort 
Union. A few appropriate remarks were made by 
Mr. Koogler, editor of the Las Vegas Gazette. Also 
by Hon. A. J. Calhoun and others. 

Too much could not be well said in praise of 
Hon. Judge Lee's oration. 

After all that has been said in favor of the occa- 
sion, the social character of the celebration was one 
of its most excelent characteristics. All were happy. 



—281— 

Spanish and English Missions, 
NEW MEXICO CORRESPONDENCE. 

BY REV. THOMAS HARWOOD. 

When I wrote you at Las Cruces, I thought I 
could send you a few jottings from different places 
along the line of my missionary travel. But labor- 
ious traveling, camping, visiting and preaching have 
taken up the time. From S'^ver City we returned to 
Las Cruces, and then traveled to Fort Stanton, via 
San Augustine, White Water, Tularosa, Apache, 
Indian Agency, and Dowlin's Mills. Then on to 
Lincoln, back to Fort Stanton, thence to this place, 
via Las Patos and Jicarilla; making a distance of 
475 miles, since I wrote you last. 

But why write from this miserable place? This 
place of two houses and two Mexican families and a 
few stables and a well of stinking alkali water ? This 
place, 40 miles from the nearest house and 80 miles 
from a live spring, or running brook? This place, 
from which if you were to stretch a cord 75 miles 
in length and strike a circle you would not take in n 
dozen houses, nor a stream of water? You would, 
however, take into the circle thousands of acres of 
fine nutritious grass and some timber. But why 
write at all? 

I dreamed night before last that I met with the 
dear old Central, and after feasting awhile upon its 
refreshing contents, as I always do with the Advo- 
cates, after a long absence, my eye fell upon my own 
article written at Las Cruces, and I was so disap- 
pointed with it I thought, in my dream, I would 



—282— 
History oj New Mexico 

never write again. A camp in a cold mixture of a 
foggy, drizzly, rainy snow storm is a good place 
for unpleasant dreams, provided one can sleep 
enough to dream at all. But dreams are sometimes 
contrary to the facts, and hoping it may be so in 
this one, I venture to write again. 

But why write from this place, so far from any 
town or house, except a few miserable huts where 
water is kept on sale to travelers. They draw this 
water in barrels sometimes a distance of 20 miles. 
At one of these places they told me that the birds, in 
summer time, would come regularly every day to 
get water from the barrels and dishes that contained 
the water drawn. But does not the map show, and 
have you not spoken of several places on your line of 
travel such as San Augustine, White Water, Tula- 
rosa, Jicarilla^ Pedreinal, etc.? Yes, but these are 
all small places, San Augustine is 20 miles east of 
the Rio Grande, and at the east base of the Organ 
Mountains. It is a beautiful place — fine spring, 
has a nice garden, a few houses, a store and two 
families. It is a number one cattle ranch. White 
Water, 30 miles further along, is the next watering 
place. There is not a house, and of course no one 
lives there. This road is much traveled by immi- 
grants and freighters. There is less sand on it than 
there is on the Rio Grande. It is called White 
Water because of the whitish appearance of the 
water in the well, and perhaps because of the vast 
deposit or accumulation of gypsum near it. The 



—283— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

thousands of acres of this white material appear 
from a distance like great snow drifts. About 15 
miles further on is Lost River. This is a beautiful 
little under-ground stream, which breaks out just at 
this place and flows about a dozen steps and sinks 
again. The next place is Tularosa, about 10 miles 
further on. This is quite a nice little Mexican town, 
situated on the Tularosa brook, a beautiful stream, 
which flows down from the mountains, forming a 
small valley between La Sierra Blanca on the north, 
and the Sacramento mountains on the south. There 
is considerable farming down in this valley, the first 
we have seen since we left Las Cruces, 70 miles back, 
except a garden at San Augustine Springs, and in- 
deed the only farming that could be done for want 
of water to irrigate with. I don't like this stream 
much for the following reasons : First, it has no 
trout nor fish of any kind in it; and second, it re- 
minds me so much of some dashing fellows I have 
known, it comes splashing over the rocks and spark- 
ling in the sunlight ; and you would think the whole 
valley would be watered and cultivated, but all at 
once, just below the little town, it sinks and you 
hear of it no more, leaving thousands of acres in 
barrenness. 

On the same river, about 20 miles farther up, is 
the Mescalero Apache-Indian Agency. These In- 
dians seem to be improving. They are not the ter- 
ror they once were. Major Godfrey, their present 
agent, seems to be doing well for them. Mrs. God - 



—284— 
History oj New Mexico 

trey, her daughter and niece, manifest much interest 
in this work of instructing these Red men of the 
forest. This valley is nearly all in this Indian Res- 
ervation, but the lands are occupied and cultivated 
by Americans mostly. The Government would do 
well to purchase these improvements for the Indians 
and encourage them to cultivate more land. 

But we must hurry over these mountains. The 
snow-crown head of Sierra Blanca has been visible 
for 80 miles, but is now only seen occasionally, ow- 
ing to the intervening hills and gathering clouds. 
At its foot rises the Rio Bonito, and after winding 
along its base flows out by Fort Stanton, Lincoln, 
and through quite a settlement, thence down into 
the Rio Pecos. 

We preached at Lincoln to fourteen Mexicans 
and ten Americans. There are in this little town, 
the county seat of Lincoln County, a few good 
American families. I met with four men who were 
supposed to belong to a band of desperadoes who 
have infested this lower country to the terror of the 
inhabitants and travelers. At Silver City, about ten 
days before I was there, the Indians had broken out, 
and near there had killed fifteen persons. This band 
of desperadoes had also been on the road. They 
had stopped the stage, stolen horses, and for a while 
seemed to be almost running the country. If I were 
disposed to admit that I am afraid of anything, I 
should hardly know which to dread most, this class 
of men or the Indians. I was right on their fresh 



—285 

Spanish and English Missions, 

tracks for 200 miles, and fearing much of the time 
I would run across them — and did, Sunday after 
meeting, stand face to face with four of these fel- 
lows, but they had been arrested and lodged in jail. 
But we hurry back to Stanton for the evening ap- 
pointment. We preached to two white civilians and 
about thirty colored soldiers; but where are your 
officers? "I guess de's play'n billiards/' Two days 
of dark, cloudy, foggy weather brought us to this 
place. This reminds us again of our question, at the 
commencement of this article — Why write from this 
place? The condition of the weather early this 
morning made us dread starting over a bleak prairie 
of 70 miles and through the timber 40 miles with not 
a house and no certainty of water — but it is 10 
o'clock and the clouds are breaking away and we 
must go. 



1877. 

From my Diary of January 1, 1877: We held 
Watch-night services last night here at Tiptonvillc. 
House comfortably filled. We commenced at 9. 
Text: "Watchman, what of the night?" I had 
plenty of time so preached an hour and a half, and 
Avas surprised to have an irreligious man tell me 
that he didn't get tired and another, a member of 
the church, wished the sermon had been longer. 

Jan. 18. — Mrs. Harwood and I went up to Fort 
Union to call on the new Chaplain and family, Rev. 
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson. We had a good visit. I 



—286— 
History of New Mexico 

often preach at the Fort and hold temperance 
meetings. 

Jan. 18. — Today received a kind letter from Rev. 
Benjamin St. James Fry, D.D, Editor of the Cen- 
tral Christian Advocate, expressing appreciation of 
my articles to his paper. I appreciate the letter 
more highly from the fact that we were Chaplains 
together in the same brigade in Sherman's Army. 

May 20. — Have expected Bishop Bowman to ar- 
rive on the stage to accompany us to Peralta to hold 
our Annual Missionary Meeting. Bro. George 
Murray is with us. Preached last night. We took 
Missionary Collection which amounted to $34 — a 
good collection, we think, for a membership of ten 
persons. 

May 29.— Today we learn that the Bishop will go 
direct to Santa Fe and so our party of eight in all in 
two light wagons start for Santa Fe. Bro. George 
Murray and wife, two lady teachers, a lady student 
from our school, myself, Rev. Benito Garcia and 
N. H. Gale. We camped on the way, but indoors 
when we could reach houses. At Las Vegas Bro. 
Murray preached in the Presbyterian Mission 
Chapel. 

June 1. — Reached Santa Fe. Bro. Murray preach- 
ed again at night in the Presbyterian Chapel. 

The next morning I went to the hotel and found 
the Bishop. We had never met before, but recog- 
nized each other in a moment. I explained to him 
the program for the day, which was no preaching in 



—287 

Spanish and English Missiojis. 

the forenoon as it was Corpus Cristi day and ail 
would want to witness the Roman Catholic proces- 
sion. So it was arranged that we have only a 
prayer meeting* with general remarks in the fore- 
noon and the Bishop preach at night. The Bishop 
seemed pleased with the arrangements. I cared but 
little about it myself, but I wanted the Bishop to 
see something of what we have to cope with out in 
this country. 

At 10:30 we were assembled in the Presbyterian 
Chapel that was built and dedicated by the Baptists 
in 1854. After a few prayers had been offered, a 
few made short speeches, with these a gentleman 
arose and said : "Gentlemen, I have traveled con- 
siderable in other places and in a few counties of this 
territory, and judging from what I have observed 
in Xew Mexico Christianity in this country is a 
failure/' "They tell me," this man went on to say, 
% 'that Xew Mexico has been under the rule and. sway 
of Christianity for 300 years/' "If so, it is a fail- 
ure." said he, "and I call for the proof. I challenge 
Rev. Mr. Harwood to reply," said he; . I at once 
beckoned to Rev. Mr. Murray. He shook his head. 
I then signalled to the Bishop. He shook his head, 
so I felt compelled to answer. 

I ^aid, "there may be much truth in what the 
pentleman has said, but after all how can he say that 
'Christianity has been a failure,' even here in New 
Mexico, when he doesn't know what this country 
would be without Christianity. Unless he can tell 



—288— 
History of New Mexico 

us what New Mexico would be without Christianity 
he surely cannot truthfully assert, however, it may 
seem here, that Christianity is a failure, and even 
if he could prove that Christianity has been a failure 
in New Mexico that does not prove that it has been 
a failure everywhere or even anywhere else. And 
so it seems to me the gentleman has stated more 
than he can prove, but I wish the Bishop would help 
on this question. The Bishop then made a very 
beautiful and forceful reply in favor of Christianity, 
at which the gentleman who made the attack arose 
and said, "I take it all back." 

The: Procession. 
It was announced that the procession was coming. 
There must have been 3,000 or more in the proces- 
sion and all was very orderly. The Bishop was 
polite. Stood with his hat off. That was one of the 
largest processions I have seen in the territory. I 
think that all kinds of Roman Catholic processions 
are waning in numbers to what they were in those 
early days. 

The Bishop preached a beautiful sermon at night 
to a crowded house. Text : "I am not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew 
first, and also to the Greek/ 'Rom. 1-16. The peo- 
ple all seemed delighted with the sermon and visit. 
Hon. T. B. Catron to this day pronounces it the fin- 
est sermon he has ever heard in New Mexico. 
Pkralta Conference, June 7-10. 



—289— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

Monday, the 4th, we left for Peralta. I took the 
Bishop with me in my wagon. He also rode a part 
of the time with Brother and Sister Murray. 

We took our lunch and camped in houses as there 
were no hotels. The first night we camped at La 
Bajada. The next night at San Felipe Indian Pu- 
eblo. The Indians gave us two nice, clean rooms 
and were very kind. In the morning they didn't 
seem to want to accept compensation, but we forced 
$2.00 I think it was for the rooms and corral for 
the horses. The Pueblos and the Mexican people 
are very hospitable. Many Americans travel 
among them without any cost, but that is not right. 
We ought not to abuse their hospitality. It has al- 
ways been my custom, unless in special cases or 
among our own Protestant people to pay whatever 
I thought was right. 

We reached Peralta so as to open the Conference 
Thursday morning. The people were delighted to 
see a bishop among them. We were the guests of 
Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Steele. The forenoons were 
spent in regular conference work and the afternoons 
in our essays, etc. The Bishop took a very active 
part in all the essays as well as in the regular work 
of the Mission. 

The Bishop preached a fine sermon. Hon Teo- 
folo Chavez was interpreter. Text : Mat. 6-33 : 
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righte- 
ousness and all these things shall be added unto 
v. u." Especially the first part of the verse, "Seek 



-290- 
History of New Mexico 

ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 
Spanish "Buscad primeramente el reino de Dios." 
About Sixty persons communed on Sunday, 
This was the grandest day up to that time that 
Peralta had ever had. Bro. Ambrosio Gonzalez 
often referred to it while he was living. 

Midnight. 

We left Peralta Monday morning for my home, 
Tiptonville, as it was by this time called. We trav- 
el all night to get to the proper water and camp. It 
was a hard night ride, but the Bishop was as cheerful 
all night as any of us. At about midnight we stop- 
ped to feed and rest the ponies and have lunch. It 
was in the foothills of the mountain among the 
pines. The Bishop built up a big fire, he and the 
lady teacher who was with us returning to the east. 
It fairly lit up the heavens. The distance from Per- 
alta to Tiptonville via San Miguel and Las Vegas 
was aobut 160 miles. We reached it in time for the 
Bishop to take the stage for the end of the railroad 
and then on east, by Thursday. The Bishop 
visited Mrs. Harwood's school, talked to the schol- 
ars and preached a beautiful sermon and interested 
us very much. He wrote me a beautiful letter when 
Mrs. Harwood died. See Life of Mrs. Emily J. 
Harwood, page 198. 

We close the year with 10 preachers, 5 English 
speaking and 5 Mexicans, 5 church buildings, 5 
narsona^es, probable value $52,000, and 197 mem- 
bers, 55 probationers and 178 S. S. scholars 



—291— 



Spa?nsh and English Missions, 

The Bishop's Letter. 
PERALTA. NEW MEXICO, DISTRICT CON- 
FERENCE. 

BY BISHOP THOMAS BOWMAN. 

June 20, 1877. — Our route from Santa Fe to 
Peralta, where the District Conference for New 
Mexico was to be held, lay, in the main, along the 
valley of the Rio Grande del Norte. This river 
drains a large area nearly in the center of the Ter- 
ritory running from North to South. Large por- 
tions of the valley are under cultivation, the river 
furnishing water for irrigation. Much more land 
could be improved, and that now in use might be 
made more productive if there were more intelli- 
gence and industry here. Little villages containing 
populations from 150 to 1,500, are scattered all 
along the river, and differ from one another only 
in size. 

There are few public inns in the territory, and 
here travelers have to stop wherever they can find 
a place. Most families will entertain strangers as 
best they can, frequently giving up all the room but 
the kitchen, the household huddling together in this. 
Travelers usually take their provisions with them 
and other things needful for camping out. If a 
house is found they do their own cooking, and take 
care of themselves, paying whatever they think 
right for the use of the house, bed, and fire. We 
spent one night in one of the oldest Indian Pueblo-'. 
Sandia. It would have amused your readers as it 



—292- 
History of New Mexico 

did us to witness the greeting we received. Men, 
women, children and dogs everywhere hailed us. 
They came from the streets and from the ovens, 
were at the doors and on the house tops, and what 
was lacking in the chatter of the people and the 
yelping of the dogs, was made up by the braying 
of the donkeys meeting us at every corner. We 
bore our honors finely, and after a pleasant night's 
rest and some religious services, both night and 
morning, went on our way rejoicing. These Pu- 
eblo Indians are, as they always have been, quiet, 
honest and somewhat industrious. They will com- 
pare favorably with the mass of the other popula- 
tion. After we had become settled in the village we 
felt as safe and comfortable as we would have felt 
in any Mexican town. But of this more hereafter. 

Peralta is 100 miles nearly south of Santa Fe, 
and on the east side of the Rio Grande. It is in 
most respects like all the other Mexican towns, 
though prettier than most we have passed, because 
of more taste in the houses and quite a supply of 
trees in the plaza and along the streets. The larger 
portion, of the people are Protestants, and over sev- 
enty of these are members of our Church. They 
are by far the most cultivated of the town. Their 
superiority is seen in their general appearance, in 
their home comforts, and in their evident intelli- 
gence. Books and papers are seen in every one of 
their houses. Bro. Ambrosio Gonzales became a 
Methodist in 1852, through the instrumentality of a 



—293 ~ 

Spanish and English Missions, 

preacher by the name of Nickerson, who spent a short 
time in this region. In 1856 Dr. Lore came here 
and organized a small class, appointing Bro. Gon- 
zales leader. The people, especially the older ones, 
remember Dr. Lore with great affection. This little 
band of Christians have suffered all manner of per- 
secution, and came well nigh being destroyed. Four 
years ago. Rev. J. Steele was sent here, and by his 
hard and faithful labor, aided by his devoted wife, 
has succeeded in building up a good school, and a 
society of over seventy good, faithful members. 

The district conference composed of all the min- 
isters and their native helpers, met on Thursday, 
June 7 ; all were on hand and in good spirits. The 
usual business was attended to promptly and in 
good order. Every one had.an'essay in Spanish or 
English, or in both, and the services throughout 
were interesting and profitable to the people. The 
brethren in Peralta think the effects of the session 
will be lastingly good. The religious services wee 
exceedingly pleasant. On Sabbath the love feast 
and the sacramental services were very much like 
an old-fashioned quarterly meeting. I was much 
pleased with the apparent spirituality and devotion 
of the people. For the sermon, of course, I had to 
have an interpreter, and for the first time in my life 
had to preach through another. Notwithstanding 
this drawback, we had a good time. The people 
were hungry for the truth, and gave the most 
marked attention for a full hour. Preachers and 



-294— 
History o f New Mexico 

people seemed to enjoy the occasion, and I am sure 
I never preached with more interest to any congre- 
gation. In the evening we had an address in Span- 
ish on Temperance. And although this is a wine- 
growing region, the address was thoroughly against 
the use of all that can intoxicate, and the congrega- 
tion was almost without an exception in sympathy 
with the speaker. Drunkenness has here, as in 
many other places, become alarmingly common. 
Priests and people often drink and get drunk. Hence 
I was surprised, as well as pleased, to see such an 
interest manifested in the question of temperance. 
At the close of the address a pledge was prepared 
and circulated, and many signed apparently with 
good pleasure. During the general discussion of 
the subject, one lady arose and asked permission to 
speak. She said : "I have a large vineyard, and 
have made and sold much wine. I never saw the 
wrong before. I will cut down my grape vines and 
never make any more wine, the Lord helping me. M 
All this is simply wonderful when we think of the 
history of these people, their habits and teachings 
for generations past. There is a better day coming 
for this oppressed and priest-ridden country. 

Preachers in the old conferences hardly appreciate 
the circumstances of the brethren in this Territory. 
Their condition differs but little from that of mis- 
sionaries in foreign lands. But rarely do they sec 
any one from the States, or enjoy the comforts fa- 
miliar to us at home. The language of the people, 



—295 - 

Spanish and English Missions. 

and all their habits and manners are foreign. It is 
very difficult to get the little conveniences for the 
house that are so common to us. Several of the 
brethren have been compelled to make their own 
chairs, tables, etc., or do without them. Even the 
school furniture has been made, in most cases, by 
the preachers themselves. Notwithstanding all these 
drawbacks, the brethren are cheerful and work with 
a will. On Monday morning, amidst many thanks- 
givings, mingled with tears, we left the good people 
of Peralta and started by a new route for home. 
Thursday, we spent looking at the well-managed 
school at La Junta, under the care of sister Har- 
wood, and in preaching to a good congregation in 
the evening. Friday we devoted to the case of Bro. 
McMains at Cimarron. We found him in good 
spirits, and quite confident of his ultimate triumph. 
With anything like a fair trial I have no doubt of 
his success. Sunday was given to Trinidad, where 
we enjoyed the hospitality of the pastor's home, and 
preached twice to very respectable congregations, 
and in the Sunday school baptized Bro. Rickard's 
little boy, Homer Craig. Then we started on Mon- 
day for home, and after having traveled 2,000 miles 
by rail and 600 by stages and private carriage, we 
reached St. Louis, on Thursday morning, without 
an accident or an hour's delay. 

Allow me, before closing, again to commend to 
those going west, the route by the Missouri Pacific, 
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Denver 



296— 

History o f New Mexico 
& Rio Grande Railroads. 



1878 

Our Annual Meeting for 1878 was held at Santa 
Fe by Bishop Mathew Simpson, D.D., Oct. 7, 1878. 

It had been appointed to be held at Socorro, but 
as that was a long way from the end of the railroad, 
the Bishop changed the place to Santa Fe. 

The preachers had not all heard of the change 
and consequently only a few reached the place. Bros. * 
Bias Gutierres and Marcos Barela came up from 
Valverde and San Marcial and were ordained dea- 
cons. I met the Bishop at Cimarron, heard him 
preach a fine sermon in which he showed that Jesus 
"died of a broken heart." The sermon was ex- 
tremely touching. I brought the Bishop down to 
La Junta. On our way we passed the night at 
Ocate, thence readier Ciruelita and had services in- 
cluding communion. I interpreted the Bishop's ser- 
mon. We then came via Collier's Ranch, Fort 
Union and thence to our place. The Bishop preach- 
ed a very interesting sermon. Many came out to 
hear the great Bishop even if it was on a week 
night. Bro. Benito Garcia was our preacher at Cir- 
uelita. He and all his people were pleased with the 
Bishop's visit to Ciruelita. 

Santa Fe. 

We only had three days in which to get to Santa 
Fe, so we had to get ready in a hurry. Mrs. Har- 



—297— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

wood went with us. The Bishop's son was along 
and soon informed us that his mother had given 
strict orders not to let the Bishop work too hard 01 
risk too much with the Indians. 

It was an interesting ride, the right time of the 
year for pleasant camping. We had our lunches and 
camped in houses. The first night we camped at 
Tocolote with an Israelite named David, w r ho treated 
us well. Here at Tocolote w r e saw the little herder 
boys drive in their sheep and goats for milking. 
This reminded the Bishop of the Old World, Egypt 
and Palestine, where he had visited. We often 
passed piles of stones and crosses set up indicating 
that some one had been killed at that place, also 
perhaps that in carrying a corpse the people had 
paused there to rest 

Pigeon's Ranch. 
We spent the second night at Pigeon's Ranch. 
Tt was near this place that General or Governor 
Armijo came out from Santa Fe with 4,000 men, 
and six pieces of artillery, in August, 1846, to check 
General Kearny's army and to hurl back the in- 
vading foe. But he made no stand and Kearny 
marched on into Santa Fe. It is the place, also, or 
near where, March 2, 1862, that General Sibley 
with 1,600 Confederates w r as ingloriously defeated 
by Brigadier General Slough with only two com- 
panies of the first Colorado regiment and a few 
regulars. It was a hard fight, lasting nearly all day 
and the battle was gained by our men scaling the 



—298— 
History oj New Mexico 

mountain and coming down in the rear of the Con- 
federates, and burning their supply wagons. 

The next morning we visited the old Pecos 
Pueblo church and ruins. 

ThKJ CONF£R£NCB. 

We reached Santa Fe on the fifth and held the 
Conference the next day. The Bishop ordained to 
Deacon's orders Bias Gucierres and Marcos Barela. 
He preached a grand sermon on Sunday in the old 
adobe chapel. (That has been removed and the 
Presbyterians have a fine brick building in place of 
the adobe.) Subject: "The Christian Victory." 
Text: 2 John 5, 4, "This is the victory that over- 
cometh the w r orld even our faith." 

At the close of the night services many of the 
leading men of the place being present came for- 
ward and expressed great pleasure with the ser- 
mon. With them were the pastor, Rev. Mr. Smith, 
and General and Governor Lew W allace. The gov- 
ernor said "Bishop, I am delighted with this ser- 
vice. I shall have something new to write home to 
Mrs. Wallace." General G. A. Smith, United 
States Revenue Collector, at whose house the Bish- 
op was a guest, also Mrs. Harwood and I, expressed 
himself as delighted with the sermon and the ser- 
vices. The pastor of the Church told me the next 
day that that was the grandest sermon he had ever 
heard. 

The next morning the Bishop and his son took 
stage for Antonito to take the train for Denver. 



—299— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

Mrs. Harwood and I returned to our home at Tip- 
tonville. She never forgot that romantic trip and 
her first visit to Santa Fe. 

Rev. O. P. McMains. 

I thought when I finished page 273 that I would 
have no occasion to refer to the murder of Rev. 
Mr. Tolby, and to Rev. Mr. McMains any more, 
but Bishop Simpson and also Bishop Bowman as 
well as myself were in deep sympathy with him. 1 
did not justify him in his unwise and dangerous 
method of trying to ferret out the assassins. My 
advice was for us to go right on in our missionary 
work as if nothing had occurred, but at the same 
time keep our eyes and ears open for all we could 
see and hear and as "murder will out," I thought 
we would be more apt to get on the track of the 
murderers in that way than in any other. Mr. Mc- 
Mains' plan was to quit everything else and hunt 
down the assassins. And when his constant decla- 
ration was that he knew who the murderers were it 
was but natural that the prosecuting attorney was 
so anxious himself to find out who they were that 
he should cite Mr. McMains to appear before the 
grand jury to state what he knew. His refusal to 
state what he had said he knew on the ground that 
it might involve himself w r as what led to his indict 
ment by the grand jury of murder in the first de- 
gree and for that he was tried, but not convicted. 



—300— 
History of New Mexico 

It is wonderful how high the excitement ran. 
In order to make it appear that certain parties were 
guilty of the murder of Mr. Tolby even dreams of 
an old lady and seances of an aged gentleman were 
brought to bear in the private arguments. The 
lady's dream was a strange one, but dreams should 
weigh nothing when human life is at stake. The 
seance was also a strange thing. Before Mr. Rob- 
erts and I had returned from our trip over to Taos, 
soon after the murder had occurred, to try to find 
out what a Mexican had said about the assassina- 
tion of the Protestant heretic, (as we were nearly 
all called in these early days) the spiritualist claimed 
to have seen in a seance that a party had come from 
Taos up to the Taos canon to waylay us. This 
word being told in our neighborhood, while Mrs. 
Harwood didn't believe at all in spiritism still she 
couldn't help feeling uneasy about us. Mr. Rob- 
erts was a young student and preacher at school. 
He had been ordained a deacon at Cincinnati on 
our way home from the east in 1875. 

The facts of the scare were as follows : As we 
were going down the Taos Creek out of the moun- 
tains Mr. Roberts said, "I saw some Mexicans hid- 
ing in the bushes, and he seemed quite excited. He 
caught up his rifle at once. I said, "Don't shoot 
until I tell you." The horses were trotting pretty 
fast down grade and all at once as we turned an- 
other turn in the road a Mexican almost turned a 
somersault out of the bushes into the road. They 



—301 

Spanish and English Missions. 

were fishing for trout with hook and line and one 
fellow had caught one and sprang out to take the 
fish off the hook. That's all there was of it. We 
stopped and had quite a chat with them. We in- 
quired for the man we were after, but they knew 
nothing of the man nor the murder of Mr. Tolby. 

Extracts From My Report to the Missionary 
Society for 1878, Cimarron and 
Elizabethtown. 

"Rev. O. P. McMains succeeded F. J. Tolby at 
Cimarron and Elizabethtown. Mr. McMains had 
been unwise in his methods of the investigation of 
the murder of Mr. Tolby. I was just as anxious to 
assist in the investigation as Mr. McMains was or 
any one else could have been, but we differed 
widely in our methods. 

I am quite sure that I was the first to make any 
special effort to find the murderers or to pay out a 
dollar, as in my dangerous trip to Taos, as spoken 
of heretofore. The country was thrown into a 
fearful condition and at times it seemed w r ith the 
light of a match it might set the whole country 
ablaze. People on the stage coming into the coun- 
try were afraid to come through Cimarron, head- 
quarters of the excitement. 

Mr. Swope, the stage agent came to see 
me and have me, if possible, stop Mr. McMains' 
foolish efforts to ferret out the murderers. But 
after he was arrested and imprisoned I was with 
him at Taos (for the courts had been changed from 



—302— 
History of New Mexico 

Cimarron to Taos for judicial purposes) and suc- 
ceeded in getting a change of venue from Taos to 
Mora, and when he was imprisoned in Santa Fe 
without the privilege of bail I went down to Santa 
Fe, 100 miles, at my own expense and plead with 
the judge and prosecuting attorney and secured the 
privilege of bail and he was released under $20,000 
bonds. 

Suffice it to say that he met all the charges 
manfully and after appearing before the courts at 
Taos, Santa Fe and Mora and Colfax the case 
was discontinued under Judge Bradford L. Prince. 

Thus the grave charge against a minister of the 
gospel for murder in the first degree, confined in 
prison first without the privilege of bail ; second, ad- 
mitted to bail of $20,000 ; third, brought before the 
courts of three counties, and kept under cloud for 
nearly two years ; simmered down simply to im- 
prudence. And, of course it was imprudence, rash 
and unjustifiable. Had he listened to my advice his 
trouble might have been avoided, some lives prob- 
ably saved and the law had its proper course. 

Mr. McMains had many friends and while in 
prison he was well cared for, and I was censured 
because I refused to pay him his missionary salary 
while he was under indictment for murder. How 
could I, as that would have been contempt of court r 
Both Bishops Bowman and Simpson approved my 
course and said I had acted wiselv in the case. Be- 
fore Bishop Simpson left Santa Fe he said, "I don't 



—303 



Spanish mid English Missions. 

like to appoint Bro. McMains to Cimarron and 
Elizabethtown, but I wish you would." I did so, 
knowing that a strong petition had gone up to the 
Missionary Society asking that it be done. Mr. Mc- 
Mains' case had by this time been thrown out of 
court. Some time after this he rode down 50 miles 
to have me perform his marriage ceremony. 
District Conference at Socorro. 
As but very few could reach Santa Fe in time to 
hold the conference with the Bishop, we called the 
District Conference at Socorro. This was well at- 
tended. The following named brethren were pres- 
ent : 

Benito Garcia, Ciruelita. 
John Steele, Peralta. 
Juan Garcia, Manzano. 
M. Matthieson, Socorro. 
Bias Gutierrez, Valverde. 
M. Barela, Las Cruces. 
N. H. Gale, Silver City. 

The above named were all present and gave good 
reports of their work. 

O. P. McMains, Cimarron and Elizabethtown, 
not present. 

J. M. Brown and Pablo Salazar, La Junta, not 
present. 

George Murray and J. H. Roberts had left us. 
Ambrosio Gonzales, Peralta, Jose S. Telles, So- 
corro and Pablo Trujillo of San Marcial were local 

preachers. 



—304— 
History of New Mexico 

1879 

The Fourth Annual Mission meeting was held at 
Tiptonville, commencing Aug. 14, 1879, with 
Bishop Merrill presiding. 

The meeting was opened in the usual way, scrip- 
ture lesson, singing and prayer. Rev. D. W. Cal- 
fee was elected secretary. Thos. Harwood, inter- 
preter. 

The following answered to roll call : 

Thos. Harwood, Ambrosio Gonzales, Bias Gu- 
tierrez, Marcos Barela, Juan Garcia, Benito Gar- 
cia, D. W. Calfee and Pablo Salazar. 

The forenoons were spent in the work of the 
conference and the afternoons in reading essays. 

The Bishop made a fine impression. Preached a 
grand sermon Sunday morning, ordained to dea- 
cons's orders Ambrosio Gonzales and Pablo Sala- 
zar. 

In the afternoon the Bishop and I went to Las 
Vegas. The Bishop preached a grand sermon in 
the Presbyterian Mission chapel at night. We 
stopped at one of the principal hotels. The land- 
lord, as usual, was under the influence of liquor next 
morning and was quite lively. When I asked for 
the bill the landlord said in quite a lively tone,' "I 
oughtn't to charge you fellows as much as I do 
others, ought I ? If I should die I guess you would 
bury me, wouldn't you?" At which the Bishop 
said, ''With great pleasure." The boys at the card 



—305— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

table threw down their cards and had a hearty 
laugh at the landlord's expense. 

Rev. Mr. Annin, the Presbyterian pastor, and 
all his people and a few of ours who had united with 
them were highly pleased with the sermon and the 
Bishop's visit. 

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad had 
just reached Las Vegas and people were coming in 
quite rapidly. We were about selecting a site for 
our church building, and the Bishop went out into 
an oat field where we had selected the site. He ex- 
pressed himself as well pleased with our choice. 

Extracts From My Annual Report : 
"Under date of Sept. 16, 1879, Brother Har- 
wood writes, "Said the Missionary Secretary at 
Xew York," and says: 

"Our work all along the line, almost without an 
exception, is looking up. The railroads are giving 
new life to the country, not only through which they 
are passing, but more or less all over the territory. 
They are bringing quite an immigration of Amer- 
ican people and with them are quite a number of 
Methodist people. As evidence of this we have 
just organized a church at Las Vegas with fifteen 
members, the present terminus of the A. T. & S. F. 
railway system. 

The Presbyterians have had a church organiza- 
tion here for some time. A few of our Methodist 
people joined that church at Mrs. Harwood's and 
my suggestion, as we had no organization there. 



' —306— 
History of New Mexico 

We secured the use of the Presbyterian Mission 
Chapel for services in Old Las Vegas, and are using 
a hotel known as the American house for our ser- 
vices, near the depot. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the Presbyterians 
had promised to let us have our people back when- 
ever we might think it best to organize our own 
work, yet when the time came they seemed to hesi- 
tate. And really it was not until I had concluded 
that unless they would divide their Chapel with us 
at least once a month we would send off for a big 
tent and put it up on the plaza about the middle of 
the Old Town ; at that they consented. 

The fact that they didn't want to give us back 
our own members, we took more as a compliment 
than otherwise, for it was good proof that ours were 
good people, the Presbyterians liked them. One was 
Mrs. Mary E. Teats, now of world-wide reputation 
as the National Purity Evangelist of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union and Lecturer for the 
National Purity Association. Mrs. Teats has just 
written a strong work, "The Way of God in Mar- 
riage," published by the Physical Culture Publish- 
ing Co., Physical Culture City, Spotswood P. O., 
X. Y. Also a Mr. and Mrs. Allison. Also a Dr. 
and Mrs. Sutton and Bro. and Sister Janes 
and others. The next year the new church, Meth- 
odist Episcopal, went up and was dedicated by Dr. 
Earl Cranston, now Bishop and our church at that 
place has been growing ever since. 



—307— U 
Spanish mid English Missions. 

"It may seem a little strange that I give space 
in this report for reference to the railroad, but we 
have been hoping for it and looking for it so long 
that now it has come we want to announce its com- 
ing as a part of our Missionary annual report. 

We know, of course, that it would bring into the 
territory more bad whiskey, more bad men, more 
bad women, more gambling, more Sabbath break- 
ing and for a while the country will go wild, but 
with all this we wanted to see the railroad. 

One of our Mexican preachers from the Rio 
Grande went up to Las Vegas on business. When 
told on his return that the Methodists had a church 
at that place he expressed great surprise, for he 
didn't see anything but wickedness when he was 
there. When he went home he told his people to 
"look out for the railroad for it was bringing whis- 
key, gamblers, horse racers — and the country would 
go wild." But said he, "I tell them, perhaps it will 
be like a new ditch, when you first let the water into 
it, it is muddy and gathers a great deal of filth, and 
when it has run awhile the water gets clearer." So 
perhaps it will be with the railroad. After it has 
been running a while it may be it will bring a 
better class of people." 

A Few Incidents of 1879. 

During the year I made quite an extended trip 
down the country. My nephew, T. M. Harwood, 
was with me. He was then a small boy, about 13 
or 14, but was good company and could help me 



—308- 
History of New Mexico 

look after the ponies. We went via Las Vegas, 
San Miguel, Peralta, Socorro, San Marcial, La 
Joya and Manzano. About a day's journey from San 
Miguel, while in camp one night there came up a 
fearful thunderstorm. We were camped in an 
arroyo where there was very good grass for June. 
The horses were picketed near us and we were asleep 
in the ambulance, or at least I was trying to sleep. 
The lightning would flash and with it the crash 
of the thunder was alarming. I had serious reflec- 
tions. The thought came to me, "Suppose this 
should be my last, as it came near being in 1871, 
near Cimmarron, when returning from a confer- 
ence in Colorado. It was then, while meditating on 
the thought that there should be nothing between 
our Heavenly Father and ourselves that a hymn 
was outlined with the chorus as follows: 

We journey through a vale of tears, - 

A world so sad and dreary; 
We're oft beset with doubts and fears, 

But let us not grow weary. 

Chorus: 

"Let nothing come between us, Lord, 
Between Thy smiling face and me, 
And me, and me, 
Between thyself and me." 

The tempter's vile alluring hand, 
Would blight our hopes forever, 

But in Thy strength, dear Lord, we'll stand. 
And from Thee ne'r would sever. 



— 309 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Amid the beating- storms of life, 

Oh may I never grieve Thee! 
All through the weary walks of life 

Dear Saviour, never leave me. 

Dangers on every hand ma}' stand. 
And storm-clouds gather round me; 

But Jesus holds my trembling 1 hand, 

And whispers 'nought shall harm thee.' 

"Then let the lurid lightnings blaze. 

The thunders crash in terror ; 

My Father holds them. He can save, 

I'll fear no more forever." 
Tune, "Gates Ajar." See my own little Hymn 
book of a hundred English and Spanish hymns. 

But the above calm and peaceful condition of 
mind was soon broken in upon when after a half 
hour or so after the heavy thunders had ceased I 
heard something away up in the arroyo like distant 
but continuous thunder. It seemed to come nearer. 
It had not rained enough to produce any alarm, so 
far as we thought, but there had been a cloudburst 
in the mountains and the water was corning, but 
still I had not thought of a cloudburst until the 
water was quite near. I shook and called my 
nephew and sprang out of the buggy just in time to 
pull the buggy and other things out of the water, 
and thus save ourselves from a water baptism, if not 
a watery grave. 

As I said before, the railroads had come and 



-310 — 
History of New Mexico 

everything took on new life and I was full of hope 
for our missionary work and we were on a kind of 
round up, using a figure of the spring round-up ol 
stock and so a hymn seemed to shape itself in my 
mind and was finally like the other put into singable 
shape. I called it the 

"Shepherd's Round-Up." 
We are out on the round-up, 
We are looking for our own; % 
Our own, our own dear wandering flocks ; 
Some are scattered all around us, 
And some are far from home, 
And some we fear have perished on the rocks. 

Chorus : 

Come home, come home, 
Our own dear sheep, come home ; 
Come home, come home, 
Your Shepherd's own. 

Some are out in the mountains, 

In the mountains wild and drear, 

And some are on the craggy rocks and hills 

They have left the cleansing fountains, 

The fountains cool and clear 

The sparkling brooks, the rivulets and rills. 

Some are out on the llanos, 

On the llanos bleak and bare, 

And some are in the valleys poor and weak; 

They have left the growing pastures, 



—311— 

Spanish and English Missions. 
The pastures rich and fair, 

We'll go, our own dear wand 'ring sheep to seek, 
Some have died of cold and hunger, 
Some have gone so far away, 
They know no more their shepherd's tender voice, 
Some are rent and torn asunder. 
B} T the prowling- wolves of prey, 
We fear the}' now forevermore are lost, 

The good shepherd now is calling, 
His tender voice I hear. 

He's calling for his own dear scattered sheep; 

Oh will they heed the calling? 

Oh will they gather near? 

Their loving shepherd graciouslv to greet? 

Oh, yes, I know they'll heed it, 
I see them coming now; 

From mountains, plain and valley, see them come ; 

Oh, glory hallelujah! 

It fills my soul with joy, 

To see our own dear flocks a coming home. 

Last Chorus : 

Stay home, stay home, 
Our own dear sheep, stay home, 
Stay home, stay home, 
Your Shepherd's own. 

As I have never posed as a poet I thought I 



-312— 
History of New Mexico 

would submit the above hymns to Bishop Merrill, 
reading them to him carefully when he was out here 
with us, but his criticisms were cold and rather 
severe. "Oh, yes/' he said, "you have a striking 
and very suggestive figure/' "I can see in it the 
cattle and sheep as they are being driven up and 
hear the cattle bellowing and the sheep bleating, and 
doesn't that spoil the figure?" At first I thought so, 
too, and rather thought I would never sing it again. 
But not long after that it was called for and I stood 
on the platform at Socorro in our Mission Chapel 
and sang it all alone. I noticed tears in the eyes 
of several persons and I said to myself, "So long as 
this hymn makes people weep and brings them back 
home, I will continue to sing it." 

Note; — We are sorry to say that Bishop Merrill 
is dead. The Bishop died Nov. 12, 1906 in his 
80th year. His widow also soon passed away, it 
is said, as the result of grief over the death of the 
Bishop. He was a great man. The editor and 
publisher of this book saw him first in the General 
Conference at Chicago in 1868. I heard his won- 
derful address on Lay Delegation which probably 
led to his election to the editorship of the West- 
ern Christian Advocate and at the next General 
Conference in 1872 was elected Bishop. The Bish- 
op was fatherly in his administration in our con- 
ference and ever after was a warm friend to our 
Spanish work 



• —313— 
Spanish and English Missions. 



THE THIRD DECADE— 1880 TO 1890, 
1880-1884, 



The last decade from 1870 to 1880 began with 
two preachers, Father Dyer and myself, and he 
was removed at the Pueblo Conference in June, 
1870, and I left alone in all this vast field. At the 
beginning of the decade, in 1870, we had in the 
entire mission only 15 members and probationers 
and not a dollars' worth of church property. 

This, the third decade, 1880, begins with 13 
preachers, 364 members and probationers, 11 
church buildings, 5 parsonages; estimated value of 
church property $45,000; Sunday schools 16, num- 
ber of scholars and teachers 500, day schools 3, and 
scholars 180; collections for 1880 $360.00. Self 
support $900: church erections $4,700.00. 



—314— 
History oj Ntw Memco 

The Annual Mission. 

The Annual Mission was held this year, 1880, at 
Peralta. There being no bishop with us this year 
the Superintendent presided. 

The conference convened March 12, was opened 
by prayer and scripture reading in Spanish. 

The secretary of the last conference called the 
roll and the following named answered to their 
names : 

Thos. Harwood, Superintendent; Mathias Mat- 
thieson, Socorro; Benito Garcia, Ciruelita; Juan 
Garcia, Manzano ; Bias Gutierrez, Valverde ; Mar- 
cos Barela, Las Cruces ; J. Pablo Salazar, Gallinas ; 
N. H. Gale, Albuquerque; D. W. Calfee, Las Ve- 
gas; Ambrosio Goznalles, Peralta; Santiago 
Chavez, Peralta Circuit; R. G. Gallegos, La Joya; 
L. Frampton, Coyote; E H. Brooks, Silver City. 

L. Frampton was elected interpreter; D. W. Cal- 
fee. secretary. 

The forenoons w r ere devoted to the Conference 
work and the afternoons to the reading of essays, 
criticisms, etc., and the nights to preaching, exhort- 
ing and revival services. 

Miss Hilton had taught an interesting day school 
at Peralta and took part in the literary exercises 
and was quite a help. She seemed always full of 
the Holy Spirit and at one time during the 
Spanish services, she almost electrified the Amen 
can part of the audience who didn't understand 
Spanish by singing with a will, "All hail the power 



—315— 

S-pamsh and English Missions, 

of Jesus Name/' 

The matter of publishing a paper in English and 
Spanish as the organ of the church was freely dis- 
cussed in this conference and the superintendent 
was elected editor with instructions to prepare and 
have published one issue of a paper to be known as 
El Abogado Cristiano in English and Spanish, and 
send it out to each of the preachers and others. 
Each preacher was to be an agent for the paper. 
If they did not like the paper they would each bear 
his burden of the expense of the first issue and that 
would close the experiment, and if they liked it, 
they were to so inform the editor and give instruc- 
tions as to the future of the paper. 

The New Mexico Christian Advocate. 

A few extracts from our first issue, May, 1880: 
The first thing named in the paper was the dedi- 
cation of the church at Las Vegas, by Dr. Earl 
Cranston now Bishop Cranston. He preached 
from the text: "Out of Zion, the perfection of 
beauty, God hath shined. ,, It was a fine sermon. 
One of the leading trustees, A. M. Janes, presented 
the financial condition of the church, showing that 
the church had cost $2,400. The Board of 
Church Extension in Philadelphia had aided to the 
amount of $500; that the people at Las Vegas and 
elsewhere had paid $1,300 and a debt of $600 
remained yet to be paid. The doctor soon had the 
amount pledged and the church was dedicated free 



—316— 
History or New Mexico 

of debt, except to the Board of Church Extension 
and the people were delighted. The doctor was 
assisted in the dedication by A. J. Annin, pastor of 
the Presbyterian Church, D. W. Calfee, pastor of 
the Methodist Episcopal church at Las Vegas, a 
Rev. Mr. Burlingame and the superintendent of the 
Mission. 

DEDICATION AT La GaLLINA. 

This second dedication took place at La Gal- 
lina, Mora county, N. Mex., Feb. 22, 1880. It 
was a neat little chapel in the Spanish work. It 
was aided by the Board of Church Extension at 
Philadelphia, $250. It was dedicated by the super- 
intendent of the Mission free of debt, assisted by 
Rev. Benito Garcia. We further extract from the 
paper of the first issue : 

"This is a neat little chapel, for Spanish work, 
has board floor, a board roof and two windows on 
a side. The people who worship in this little 
chapel seem to have new faith, new spiritual power 
to which they were unknown in their former Ro- 
man Catholic dogma and doctrines. They are Bible 
students. The Bible is no longer a sealed book. 
The most of the children attend our day school and 
are learning well. 

Dedication at Silver City. 

From the paper : 

"April 4, 1880, the day on which we dedicated 
the church at Silver City was a lovely day. No 
India or Italian sky ever seemed clearer than did 



—317 

Spanish and English Missions. 

the skies above us at Silver City on that day." 
Surely never were the "spicy breezes over southern 
lands or ocean isles more lovely and refreshing 
than the zephers in Southwest Xew Mexico, so near 
the divide between the waters of the Atlantic and 
Pacific ocean, at Silver City, on that memorable 
day of the dedication of our beautiful church at 
that place. The house was full and it was dedi- 
cated by the writer of this book, assisted by the 
Rev. Emory L. Brooks, fresh from Greencastle and 
the new pastor of our church at Silver City; also 
by Rev. E. L. Green, Episcopal clergyman. 

Rev. N. H. Gale had been our pastor at Silver 
City. His wife and little boy had died while he 
w as in the midst of his church building. They were 
both buried at Silver City, but Bro. Gale felt that 
he had to go east and this left the work in bad 
shape. When I visited the work in February, prior 
to the dedication in April, I found a debt of $1,800 
and those who held the accounts were restless and 
threatening litigations and some recommended and 
even advocated turning the house over to the public 
school officials and let the town finish it up for pub- 
lic school. I felt very much discouraged. Didn't 
know what to do. I sat down in the store of a 
merchant whom I had known in Elizabethtown. In 
the conversation he said, "Mr. Harwood, if you 
could spend a week or so here and take hold of this 
work as you did the church at Elizabethtown you 
could bring it out and finish it up." I* is wonderful 



—318— 
HuUtry of New Mexico 

how such expressed confidence will sometimes lift 
one out of himself. He went on to say, "I have 
subscribed at my store $150, but I haven't paid 
it because I haven't thought the house would be fin- 
ished, but if you will remain and take hold of it 
I will pay my subscription. " I said, "Mr. Craw- 
ford, I thank you very much for all you have said, 
but I have examined the subscriptions and find that 
we have only about half enough on paper if all can 
be collected to finish the church/' He then said, "If 
you will stay I will double my subscription and 
make it $300 and give you a check whenever you 
want it." I answered, "All right, the church will be 
finished." From that moment my courage never 
failed me. I remained about a week or ten days, 
collected money enough to satisfy the pressing 
claims, arranged with Mrs. Robert Black whose 
husband was the contractor, but was then at Santa 
Fe, a member of the legislature, to have the house 
finished. I preached several times to good con- 
gregations and in my last meeting I announced 
that a kind' Providence permitting I would be back, 
probably with a new preacher and on the first Sun- 
day in April we will dedicate the church. A doctor, 
a special friend, not knowing all that had been go- 
ing on, said, "Mr. Harwood must be crazy." The 
Board of Church Extension had promised an extra 
donation of $250. The Ladies' Aid Society held 
a festival which netted * $275. True to my 
promise, I returned with a new preacher, the Rev. 



—319 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Emory H. Brooks, and the church was dedicated 
at the promised time free of debt. We raised the 
last $600 on dedication day. This was a grand 
success, hardly equaled anywhere in so small a 
place and with such a small membership, in the 
Mission. 

I said the church was dedicated free of debt. It 
was except about $20. I thought I would pay that 
myself and did. The next morning just before I 
was ready to start Bro. Brooks said, "Bro, Har- 
wood, the saloon men of this town are getting off 
too easy. They were not at church yesterday and 
didn't help to pay that $600 debt. I have a great 
mind to take that subscription and go after those 
fellows and make them pay that $20." "All right/' 
T said, "go for them and I will wait for you." T 
didn't have to wait long, but when he came back 
with the money he was excited and said, "The peo- 
ple say that you must not start on your journey, 
that the Indians are on the war path," but when he 
saw that I was determined to go he became very 
much excited and finally said. "Harwood. a man is 
p Fool to start on a journey when the Indians are on 
the war path, committing depredations as they now 
are," but I had learned that it i<= alwav- enfe-r n f te- 
the depredations are committed than before, and T 
also promised to be back to Valverde to dedicate 
our church at that place the next Sabbath. I also 
knew that the soldiers expected to reach 'a certain 
point on the road that I was to take and if I could 



—320— 
History of New Mexico 

make the first twenty or twenty-five miles safely I 
could then fall in and tramp a day or so with the 
soldiers and that would likely bring me out of dan- 
ger, so I left alone with my buggy and ponies and 
got out of the danger all right. 

DEDICATION AT Va^VERDE. 

From the first issue of our paper : 

"We expected to dedicate our church at Valverde 
on our way down to Silver City. Bro. Brooks was 
with me. Also the pastor from Socorro, Bro. Mat- 
thieson and wife and little girl, Maggie, but the 
house w r as not ready so I promised to come that 
way and dedicate it on my return from Silver City, 
which would be the 11th of April, according to my 
plans. I remember I expressed some fears that it 
might not be ready by that time. Bro. Matthieson 
said, "Yes, sir, it will be ready. When this Dutch- 
man promises a thing it will be done/ 7 This was 
always a characteristic of Bro. Matthieson, while 
he was with us. But the Indians were on the war- 
path crossing and re-crossing the roads for 200 
miles a little more or less and notwithstanding 
traveling all one night we failed to make it, but 
reached Valverde Monday, but Bro. Matthieson 
had dedicated the church and left for Socorro, for 
which I was glad, as the journey was such a hard 
one. 

The: Second Issue of the Paper. 
The write-up of four church dedications in the 



—321— 

Spumsk and English Missions. 

first issue with many other things seemed to please 
the brethren and they wrote to go .on with the 
paper. I give the following only to show the in- 
terest the brethren took in the paper at the begin- 
ning, twenty-seven years ago : 

Bro. Brooks, from Silver City, wrote: "I like 
the paper," and sent tweny-six subscribers. 

Marcos Barela, of Las Cruces, wrote: "My 
people are pleased with the paper," and sent twelve 
subscribers. 

L. Frampton, of Peralta, says : "The paper will 
do much good, but my Mexican people want more 
Spanish." 

Miss A. E. Hilton, our Mission teacher at Per- 
alta, "Says the paper ought to be published, but 
ought to be more religious." But Peralta gave us 
22 subscriptions. 

H. H. Hall, our preacher in the English work 
at Santa Fe likes the paper and says, "It ought by 
all means to be published, and thinks Santa Fe w T ill 
give us 50 subscribers." 

D. W. Calfee, of Las Vegas, English work, says, 
"Go ahead with the paper. Las Vegas will do her 
part," and sent us 25 names and about $50 in ads. 

Miss Mary E. Brown, our Missionary teacher at 
Tiptonville, says, "Publish the paper," and sent us 
15 names. 

Benito Garcia, Spanish work, at Ceruelita, writes, 
"This paper is the key which will unlock the door 
into the Mexican work and lock the door to much 



History of New Mexico 

Opposition to our work/' He sends us 12 names. 

Our Bible reader at Coyote likes the paper and 
sends us 8 names. 

Rev. Inez Perea of the Presbyterian church at 
Los Corrales is "well pleased with the paper," and 
sends one dollar for one year's subscription. 

Rev. M. Matthieson, our preacher at Socorro, 
writes, "A man convinced against his will is of the 
same opinion still/' and sends no subscribers. 

In the June issue, 1880, we wrote the following, 
which may indicate that we anticipated some rough 
seas for our little craft. 

"We realize the fact that this little craft must 
encounter high winds, rough seas, cross currents, 
recks and shoals, but our prayer shall be that she 
may ride above the shoals of ignorance, split the 
high winds of opposition, turn the currents of wick- 
edness and cause the rough seas of clamor and per- 
secution to "be still / then hoist her sails like angels' 
wings and fan the breezes of many a voyage for 
many years." Suffce it to say that El Abogado 
still sails on and is now in its 27th year. 

The General Conference. 
The General Conference in 1880 was held in 
Cincinnati. It was a great privilege to attend such 
a conference and see the great men of the church, 
bishops, editors, missionary corresponding* secre- 
taries and fraternal delegates from foreign lands. I 
had before this attended about 24. annual confer- 



—323— 

Spanish mnd English Misaons, 

ences, one in Minnesota, 8 in Wisconsin, 10 in Col- 
orado and 5 in New Mexico, but all of these were 
not equal to a general conference. 

Loose on the Mission. 

Bishop Merrill had said at the August Confer- 
ence at Tiptonville in 1880 that "he had turned 
Brother Harwood loose on the Mission." Mrs, 
Harwood's health was failing owing to her long 
and responsible school work and it was thought a 
visit to our beautiful Wisconsin would help 
her. So we had arranged to turn the school over 
to Bro. and Sister D. W. Calfee. We closed up 
housekeeping and Mrs. Harwood w r ent east w T ith 
the understanding that we would meet, the next 
May, at the General Conference at Cincinnati. 

I had already traveled as per my count, 30,000 
miles on horseback, in stage, but mostly with my 
own conveyance, buggy and ponies, but up to the 
present I always had home to look forward to and 
after a long journey of six or eight and sometimes 
tei or twelve weeks at a time; to get home and find 
all well, the school, Sunday schools, and everything 
moving along nicely, and sit down to a well pre- 
pared evening meal, often in beautiful contrast with 
what I had had in camping or with the brothers as 
the case might be, and often at family worship the 
favorite sonf, "Sweet, Sweet Home, be it ever so 
humble, there is no place like home/' to say I felt 
lonely in Mrs. Harwood's absence is. putting it far 



—324— 
History of New Mexico 

too tame. 

From the Life of Mrs. Harwood. 

Mrs. Kellogg says, "Any one familiar with mis- 
sion work will perceive how much dependence the 
missionaries place upon each other. This was par- 
ticularly noticeable in regard to our missionaries in 
question. The poet sings of the "lonely shore 
where only solitude intrudes." But the silence in 
the Rocky Mountains is sometimes appalling, sing- 
ing birds are few, the soughing of the pines is 
mournful, and the silence of the eternal hills is sel- 
dom broken, save by the piercing cry of the moun- 
tain lion, the scream of the panther, or the yelp of 
the coyote or the reverberating thunders that cleave 
the mountain summits or in those earlier days the 
war-whoop of the dreaded Apache. But it is possi- 
ble to feel a loneliness keener than this even among 
our own fellow men. This is especially true when 
we are with those of another language, and other 
customs or another faith or perhaps no faith/' 

"When Mrs. Harwood finally started on her Wis- 
consin trip her husband sat in the lonely study at 
Tiptonville, whose adobe walls shut out the still 
greater loneliness intending to write the simple 
statement of her depature, but out of the fullness 
of his heart it developed into a prayer as follows : 
"How lonely tonight. Mrs. Harwood gone. She 
is happy in the thought of visiting friends and rela- 
tives in our lovely Wisconsin. ' This will be her 
third visit since we came to New Mexico. Our 



—325- 

Sfamsh and English Missions. 

Heavenly Father, thou hast guided, guarded and 
protected her thus far She is worn out in thy 
work, school, mission and home work. Grant, Oh 
Father, that she may regain her health. The Lord 
bless and protect her on the journey and permit her 
to return in due time and in good health and permit 
us to resume our long loved labors in New Mexico, 
through Jesus Christ Our Lord we ask it. Amen. 

As per former arrangement we met at Cincin- 
nati at the General Conference early in the follow- 
ing May. 

As Bishops Bowman, Simpson and Merrill had 
visited our work in New Mexico and had been 
guests at our house, and each had traveled with me 
in my own conveyance over the country, it was but 
natural that they should take special interest in Mrs. 
Harwood and me and so they did, which was a 
great help in helping us to get acquainted with the 
leading men and women of the church. Through 
them and others with whom I had met we were in- 
troduced to many whom we otherwise would not 
have met. At this conference Mrs. Harwood met 
with Miss Frances Willard. She was in the first 
years of her matchless public career. We admired 
her speeches very much. 

Thoughts on the General Conference. 

In the second issue of El Abogado Cristiano for 
1880 we wrote up some impressions of. the confer- 
ence, what it was, what it did, what it did not do. 



-326— 
History of New Msxico 

and what it ought to have done. 

The General Conference is the legislative body 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, the law-making 
body. At this conference there were 397 delegates. 
Ninety-six annual conferences were represented, in- 
cluding the conferences in Europe, Africa, India 
and China. 

What the Conference Did. 

It spent 24 days in actual session, and in com- 
mittee work. It elected four Bishops, Warren, Foss, 
Hurst and Haven. It elected Dr. J. M. Reid and 
Dr. Charles H. Fowler Missionary Corresponding 
Secretaries. It elected Dr. A. J. Kynett Corres- 
ponding Secretary Board of Church Extension, and 
appointed Chaplain McCabe assistant. Dr. Rust 
was elected Corresponding Secretary of Freeman's 
Aid Society, Dr. J. M. Buckley was elected Editor 
of the Christian Advocate. Dr. Whedon was elect- 
ed for the seventh time Editor of the Methodist 
Quarterly Review, Dr. F. S. Hoyt editor of the 
Western Christian Advocate, Dr. Edwards editor 
of the Northwestern, Dr. Fry of the Central, Dr. 
Warren of the Northern, Dr. Nast of the Christian 
Apologist, Dr. Fuller of the Atlantic Methodist, 
Dr. Hartzel of the Southwestern, Dr. Crary of the 
California and other general offices. 

What It Did Not Do. 

It did not elect a colored bishop. 

It did not provide for the ordination of women. 



—327— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

It did not provide for the publication of Method- 
ist literature in Spanish. In behalf of the sixty mil- 
lions of Spanish speaking people at that time, and 
the opening doors into the Spanish countries this 
writer recommended that the church open a Spanish 
department in our publications. With twelve mil- 
lions of Spanish-speaking people as our next door 
neighbors, with a goodly number lapping over into 
our own republic and the millions in South America, 
here on our own continent and the Cuba, Porto 
Rico and other West India Spanish-speaking peo- 
ples, I thought at that time we ought to be prepar- 
ing to enter these Spanish-speaking fields. I said 
then, and still say, that the Millenium can never 
come until Rome is converted. Since that General 
Conference the Methodist Episcopal Church South 
has opened her publications for the Spanish and is 
doing a heroic work at Nashville, Tennessee. And 
now that Porto Rico and the Philippines are open to 
us who does not see that our suggestion a quarter 
of a century ago was wise? 

We are speaking of some things the Cincinnati 
General Conference did not do. It did not finish its 
work. This is always to be regretted. When it 
costs the church so much for its delegates to reach 
and return from the conference as well as while at 
the place of the session it seems like a waste of 
finances not to finish its work when only a few more 
days would finish all up nicely. 



-328— 
History of New Mexico 

How It Did Its Work. 
It seemed to us that there was far too much 
worldly spirit manifested in the debates, too much 
confusion, too much of a worldy spirit, too little of 
the spirit of the Master. An intelligent lady look- 
ing- on from the lobby was heard to say, "Why, they 
don't act like preachers, they act like men." But 
after all there was much to admire. We owe much 
to those keen eyed and keen eared delegates who 
sat at the toll gate and let no unwise measures pass 
the bar of the conference without a close sifting. 

Socorro. 

As the railroads were bringing in many Ameri- 
can people and as Bro. Matthieson was preparing 
to go into the Bible Agency for New Mexico and 
Arizona and as Tiptonville, our old home was pro- 
vided for, Mrs. Harwood and I on our return from 
the General Conference moved down to Socorro and 
made our home and headquarters there for the next 
year. We reached Socorro quite a distance ahead of 
the railroad. 



1884 

At the last conference at Las Vegas I called 
Bishop Andrews' attention to the thought of di- 
viding the New Mexico Mission into the English- 
speaking and Spanish-speaking. At first he thought 
it hardly the thing to do, but before he left us he 



—329— 

Spanish and English Missions. 

said he believed I was right in my thought about 
the division of the Mission. The two had run 
smoothly together in the main, but it was evident 
to my mind that it might not continue to do so 
much longer. 

The Mexican members outnumbered the Ameri- 
cans. The appropriations, places to hold the con- 
ferences and many other things were likely to cause 
friction. 

I think time has proven that the division which 
was made at the General Conference of 1884 was 
timely and wisely done. 

Besides the above the work was becoming heavy. 
The English - speaking people was important. The 
new Americans, many at least, seemed exacting, and 
some of the preachers seemed to feel their superi- 
ority and could hardly look for much from an old 
ante-deluvian, fifteen years in New Mexico, and 
fifty years old. New fields had to be opened, foun- 
dations laid, new conditions met, new preachers se- 
lected, all of which, to me at that time, carried so 
much responsibility that I was unwilling to carry 
the responsible burden longer, and hence urged the 
division and it was granted. 



We are a little ahead of time in this 1884, and 
find we are not yet out of 1881. 



-330— 
History oj New Mexico 

1881 

The beginning of 1881 finds us at Socorro. We 
moved from Tiptonville down to Socorro on our 
return from the Cincinnati General Conference. 

I had often visited Socorro and thought I under- 
stood Mexican character pretty well, but found, 
after I came down and lived with the people that 
they were quite different here in middle and lower 
New Mexico than they were up in the north part of 
the territory. The Mexican people down here seem 
much more independent and apparently overbearing 
than in the north. They had not associated with the 
American people down here as they had in the 
north, neither did they understand us as well. I 
think much of the indoor instruction had been. 
"Never let an American 'get away with you.' " 
Especially did this seem to be the case with the 
older people. 

At the laying of the corner stone at one of our 
school properties at Socorro I had the following en- 
counter with one of the old early Baptist members: 
He had a way of abruptly putting one off who did 
not agree with him by saying, "O, vd es de ayer que 
sabes tu?" "Oh, you are of yesterday, what do you 
know?" I think it is a corrupted translation from 
Job where Bildad said to Job, "For we are but of 
yesterday, and know nothing/' It is quite a weapon 
in the hands of an old man to make a young fellow 
feel his weakness. I freely confess I had never heard 



=331 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 

it used just that way in English. Well, this old gen- 
tleman had gotten off this sarcastic expression to 
young Brother Benito Garcia, a student from our 
Tiptonville school. It made Bro. Benito feel very 
bad and he was too young a man to seem to be im- 
polite with an old man. The fact is, the customs of 
the country were against anything of that kind. 

When I heard about this aged man, for he was a 
man of ability, being so sarcastic with our young 
Mexican preacher, I said, "Well, he better not speak 
to me that way." never dreaming that he would do 
it. It may be that some one told him what I 
said. At any rate, that same afternoon he and I 
were talking and he said, "O vd es de aver, que sabe 
vd?" He was a little more polite with me than he 
was with the younger man, for "Que sabe tu" would 
apply to inferior while "Que sabe vd?" would imply 

equality. And so I said, "Bro. it may be 

that some of the younger people who have had 
better school advantages than some of the older 
and know some things that the older people don't 
know." to which he quickly replied, 'Si vd 3 cree que 
yo no soy hombre sabia, preguntame, preguntame." 
"If you think I am not a wise man, question me, 
question me." This challenge seemed to please the 
bystanders and they had us lock horns at once. It 
almost scared me, for I had heard the peopl say that 
lie was a very learned old man. So the people fixed 
him a chair on one side of the house and one for me 
on the other, 



—332— 
History oj New Mexico 

After some little parlying it was agreed that I 
should ask the first question. 

My question — How old is the world? 

Answer — 'Dame la Biblia." Give me the Bible. 

He searched a long time and pushed the Bible on 
the table and said "Quien sabe?" That is, who 
knows ? 

The next question was his : When did Hernando 
Costez capture the City of Mexico? I happened to 
remember and answered, 1521. 

That seemed to please the old man. His next was 
"Where was the Holy Virgin Mary buried? I an- 
swered, "I do not know." 

This pleased him very much and he said "Vd no 
sabe nada." I asked "Where was she buried?" He 
answered "In Bethlehem of Judea, near Jerusalem." 
I said "That is Roman Catholic tradition, and if we 
take the tradition of the Romanists they will beat us 
out every time." To that he answered, "Quien 
sabe?" Who knows? 

The next was mine : "Brother Baca, how would 
you go from here to Jerusalem, near where you said 
that Mary was buried?" He replied very humbly, 
"Hermano yo no se." Then I said, "Now that is 
just what I was trying to tell you." The fact is that 
young people are taught in schools many things 
that were not taught when you were in school or 
even when I attended school. I think Mrs. Har- 
wood has several scholars who would answer that 
question very readily. They would probably say, 



Spanish and English Missions. 
"We would go first to the end of the railroad, via 
Denver or Kansas City and Chicago to New York ; 
then take ship and cross the Atlantic ocean into the 
Medi terranean sea, thence on eastward to the west 
coast of Palestine probably to Jappa and thence a 
short distance overland to Jerusalem.'' At which 
the old gentleman arose, came to me and said "My 
brother, perdoname, pardoname," "pardon me, par- 
don me," "It was very impolite in me to say what I 
said to you." 

I name the above case only to illustrate some of 
the difficulties which we had to contend with in an 
early day out here. If all this from one who could 
boast of having been "Bautisto" (Baptist) for twen- 
ty-five years what could we not expect from one 
who had always been a Roman Catholic? The 
above little episode took place in 1880 as well as the 
following: 

Christmas Trek at Socorro. 
This was December 24, 1880- The Presbyterians 
had come in, a few of them — and Rev. S. D. Fulton 
was their pastor. We all held services together in 
our chapel. All was very harmonious. Mrs. Har- 
wood taught the principal and only school in the 
place at that time. It was a union Christmas tree 
held in our Church. Mrs. Hanvood had charge of 
nt. It was well attended. A new thing for the place 
and as the school would have many Mexican child- 
ren special pains were taken to have something on 
for each child, and for fear that some one might l>e 



—334— 
History of New Mexico 

overlooked a barrel of apples was brought in. The 
program was beautifully rendered. It is not un- 
likely that some of the Mexicans felt bad to see the 
American children surpass the Mexican children in 
their recitations, however, all seemed to do remark- 
ably well. It is possible also that a little envy or ill 
will might have been engendered growing out of 
dress. However, all the children were well attired. 
Mr. A. M. Conkling Killed. 

From the files of New Mexico Christian Advo- 
cate, January, 1881. "A Pleasant Visit." 

In the afternoon of December 21st, 1880, it 
was our privilege (Mrs. Harwood and I) to be the 
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Conkling of Socorro. They 
had for some time desired to have all the preachers 
of Socorro and their w T ives make them a visit. Ac- 
cordingly the time was fixed and the following* 
named persons were present and spent the afternoon 
of the above named day: Rev. Mr. Fulton and 
wife, Rev. N. H. Gale and wife from Albuquerque, 
Rev. M. Mathieson and wife and this writer and 
Mrs. Harwood. The afternoon was pleasantly spent 
with profitable conversation, avoiding the too fre- 
quent neighborhood gossip. At six o'clock supper 
was served. It was a well spread table. All for- 
malities were forgotten, and the occasion rounded 
up into an old fashioned farm-like, social and joyous 
visit. I had never seen Mr. Conkling so cheerful. 
How little did we think of the sad fate that would 
soon befall him, 



c — 335 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Mysterious fate, that night that bade us part, 
But left his memory sacred to our heart; 
Oh tell us. can this world a hopetul thought bestow 
To friends now weeping at the couch of woe? 

Oh, no; but hope soothes the last adieu, 
And sorrowing one, hope speaks to you, 
"Weep not," she says, though death in terror comes, 
'Tvvas but the gate to his eternal home. 

.-- li 

No more of sorrow here, no more of pain, 
Our brother's death, though sad to us, to him is 
gain; 

In heaven we'll meet no more to sever, 
Where friendship sweely glow forever. 

How quickly our joys that Christmas eve were 
Turned to deepest sorrow. The meeting was almost 
out. As we said before a barrel of apples had been 
brought in. At or near the close Mrs. Harwood 
aslced that the apples might be distributed. She 
then requested me to ask — "has every one in the 
"house had an apple?" I did so; no one said he had 
not. Mr. Conkling was standing near the door with 
a large apple in his hand about half eaten. I asked, 
Mr. Conkling, have you had an apple? At which 
he held up the half-eaten apple and a ripple or 
laughter passed over the congregation. A few part- 
ing word-, the doxology and benediction and Christ- 
mas greeting and nearly all were gone except Mr. 
zx~d Mrfv. Conkling and a few of their frieid^ I 



—336— 
History of New Mexico 

had noticed a little disturbance in the congregation 
a little before this and stepped back to the door and 
asked him what it was. He told me briefly what it 
was. As soon as he stepped out he was attacked. 

I was with him trying to stop the trouble. It is 
the greatest wonder that I was not shot as it was in 
the dark after the first pistol shot and the lamps 
went out. I eased Mr. Gonkling down, otherwise 
he would have fallen heavy as he was a large man. 
I heard him say distinctly, "God have mercy on my 
soul." His wife told me after that that they had 
prayer together just before coming to the Christmas 
tree services. 

The funeral was largely attended, assisted by sev- 
eral preachers. 

The Sixth Mission Conference was held this year, 
1881, at Socorro, June 30th to July 4, Bishop Thos, 
Bowman, D. D., in the chair. 

Rev. N. H. Gale was elected English secretary 
and L. Frampton Spanish secretary. 

The following named answered to roll call, char- 
acter passed and at the proper time were appointed 
as follows : Thos. Harwood, superintendent, resi- 
dence Santa Fe; N. H. Gale, Albuquerque; L. 
Frampton, Coyote; M. Matthieson, who had been 
our Bible agent the past year, was appointed to Per- 
ralta; E. L. Allen, Silver City; D. W. Calfee went 
into the Bible work in Arizona; H. H. Hall, Santa 
Fe; W. R. Kistler, Las Vegas. He could not come 
out and D. M. Brown from North Indiana Confer- 



^ 1 

Spanish and English Missions. 

ence was appointed; J. A. Callen, Raton; J. Pablo 
Salazar, Gallina; Benito Garcia, Socorro; D. W, 
Potter, Socorro, English work ; Bias Gutierrez, Val- 
verde; Marcos Barela, Las Cruces; Juan Garcia.. 
Palomas. 

The secretary says in the minutes that the "con- 
ference was one of unusual interest and good Christ- 
ian feeling." 

The Bishop seemed happy and attended all the 
sessions and all the afternoon and evening meetings, 
frequently taking part in the discussion of the es- 
says. 

J. A. Callen, M. D,, was recommended to the 
traveling connection in the Colorado Conference and 
for Deacons' orders. 

The name of Rafael G. Gallegos, who was at the 
Claverack College, N. Y., was called and charac- 
ter passed. D. W. Potter was called, character 
passed, examination satisfactory, and his license 
renewed. 

Albuquerque was selected as the place for the next 
c< inference. 

The Sabbath was one of unusual interest. The 
Bishop preached with great power and his fatherly 
counsels, Christian spirit and amiable bearing en- 
deared him to us as probably no one else could have 
done. 

The minutes were read and approved and the 
conference adjourned. 

In my annual report that year to the Board at 



—338=- 
History of New Mexico 

New York I called attention to a few special things 
in the mission, 

The material prospects of the territory grow now 
with each year, though the increase of population is 
not yet rapid. The Southern Pacific Railroad, 
now opened, and the advancing Mexican railroads 
must soon tell effectively upon this country. The 
people are progressing in the matter of self-support 
lor Church work. k 'The orphanages which w r ere es- 
tablished as an experiment a few years ago, consti- 
tute a work possessing much interest, especially for 
the superintendents and teachers engaged in them," 
so said the corresponding secretary in New York, 
yet said he "in view of all the circumstances, the 
Board has thought it best to discontinue them," 

Santa Ft. 

Santa Fe, the City of the Holy Faith, is the 
stronghold of Romanism in New Mexico. Here 
reside the archbishop, the vicar-general and several 
Roman Catholic priests. The Catholic brothers 
have a college, the Sisters a convent and when Bro. 
Hall left Rev. H. M. Hackney of the West Wis- 
consin conference was appointed. Bro. Hall did a 
grand work, Some time after this he became a 
chaplain in the regular United States service and it 
is said made grand success. Rev. H. M. Hackney 
was a fine preacher, put his whole soul into the work 
and could he and his wife have stood the altitude he 
would have done a grand work. 

Re:. D, W, Potter came to Socorro for his wife's 



—339— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

health and took missionary work. He was in charge 
of the English work. 

Mrs. Harwood and I then moved to Santa Fe. 
and found it a very pleasant place in which to live, 

OBITUARY, 

A. M. Conklin, editor of the Socorro Sun, was 
brutally assassinated by some Mexican men, on the 
eve of Christmas. December 24, 1880. while attend- 
ing a Christmas tree entertainment at the Method- 
ist Episcopal church at Socorro,. Xew Mexico. 

The Presbyterian and [Methodist Sunday schools 
had united in a Christmas tree entertainment. They 
had done all they could to make the occasion one of 
interest, and especially to have a present for each of 
the Mexican Sunday and day school scholars. 

Judge J. A. Shaw and A. M. Conklin had been 
selected as ushers. The house was crowded. Many 
could not be seated. In the programme, English 
and Spanish Scripture reading and singing, prayer, 
speeches in English and Spanish, and declamations 
by two little girls had all passed off nicely. Then 
followed the distribution of presents from the tree, 
and the meeting closed up as pleasantly as we had 
ever witnessed on any occasion of the kind before. 

We had noticed, however, a little disturbance 
prior to the distribution of the presents, between 
Mr. Conklin and a young [Mexican man. The trou- 
ble was hardly noticeable, and the writer probably 
would rot have noticed it, if he had not been in 



340— 



History of New Mexico 

charge of the meeting. Just before Mr. and Mrs. 
C. left the house to go home, I stepped across to 
where they were standing, near the door, and asked 
what the trouble was, Mr. C. said he ''had a little 
trouble with one of the Mexican boys/' but he 
thought it did not amount to much. He said : "The 
young man had his foot on a bench, and my atten- 
tion was called to it, and I told him to take his foot 
down. I told him twice. He said he wouldn't do it. 
I then put it down for him and went on, and soon 
returned, and his foot was on the bench again. 1 
told him again to put his foot down, but he didn't 
do it, and I put it down for him, and told him that 
if he didn't behave himself I would put him out 
doors." This seems to have been all there was of 
it. The young man arose and beckoned to his 
brother, who sat near him, and they both went out, 
followed by two of their uncles. They tried to get 
Mr. C. to go out with them, but of course he de- 
clined to do so. 

At the close of Mr. C.'s explanation of the diffi- 
culty with the Mexican, I told him that if he 
thought there was any danger, I would see that he 
had a guard; at which he said, "Oh, no, the boys," 
meaning his printers, "will be along." It seems a 
pistol had been exhibited by the cowardly felons, 
but of this I knew nothing at the time, and I think 
Mr. C. knew nothing of it. 

Mr. Conklin started out, with Mrs. C. on one 
titfrn, ar.d Dr. M1.1n.ger on the other, and two others 



—341- 

Spatush and English Missions. 
just behind them, with a few others as an escort. 
Mrs. C. has since said that she never felt more se- 
cure in her life. I stepped back toward the pulpit to 
extinguish some of the lights, as the people were all 
about to leave. I heard a little itoise at the door, 
and hurried back just in time to see Mr. C. lay hold 
of one of the men who had attacked him. It seems 
that just as he stepped out of the door two Mex- 
icans laid hold upon him, one hold of each arm. 
R. E. McFarland and George W. McFarland were 
just behind Mr. C., and several others were just 
ahead. Some were near Mr. C, who told the Mex- 
icans in English to let go of him, and said to some 
one, "Tell them in Spanish to let go of me, or I'll 
make them." At this juncture Mr. C. laid hold of 
one of the Mexicans and beg'an to push him back, 
and showed superior strength to his assailant. Just 
at this time I reached the door, and just as I stepped 
out the first pistol shot was fired. This caused, as 
shooting is apt to do, a stampede. Judge McCutch- 
eon cried:' "Stop that! stop that!" The writer 
cried: "No shooting! no shooting!" repeating it 
several time- in English, and tried to speak it in 
Spanish. The Mexican who fired the pistol, with 
another, ran around the corner of the house. Mr. 
C. had by this time pushed his assailant back against 
the church wall, and was probably trying to hold 
the Mexican's hands, to keep him from shooting, 
or perhaps was trying to wrench the pocket pistol 
from him, and. it is likely, succeeded, as there was a 



-342— 
History of New Mexico 

pocket pistol found near Mr. C.'s feet when he fell, 
and was no doubt the same pistol that some one tes- 
tified to having seen the same Mexican have in the 
house. But just as Mr. C. likely succeeded in get- 
ting the pistol in*his own hand, a Mexican sprang 
from around the corner of the house and fired the 
second shot, without effect. At this moment Mr. 
C. whirled as if to defend himself against this sec- 
ond shot, when the third shot from the same large 
pistol was fired, passing through the heart, and 
lodging near the spine. Mr. Conklin fell upon his 
face, crying, as he fell, "God have mercy on my 
soul !" and expired almost instantly. Thus fell, bru- 
tally murdered, one of New Mexico's best friends, 
one of Socorro's best citizens, and a bold, outspoken 
Christian journalist. 

But the reader asks, What were you all doing all 
this time, to permit these dastardly cowards to pull 
a man from the arms of his wife, and shoot him dead 
at a church door, and they make their escape? We 
answer, Mrs. Conklin, and other women who were 
with him, were kept away, which was all right. 
Judge McCutcheon's lamp went out at the first 
shot, and he hurried in the house to light it. It was 
all done very quickly, much quicker, I presume, 
than the reader will be reading the account of it. 
And as we said before, shooting generally is very 
exciting, and not an American was armed, and this 
may account for the fact that so many of the men 
ran into the house, and slammed the door shut. We 



— "343 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 

are glad to say. however, that there was one man 
that stayed by Mr. Conklin, and did all he could to 
prevent the shooting, and though he risked his own 
life in so doing, yet there is a sweetness in the 
thought that he tried to save his friend. Judge Mc- 
Cutcheon was soon out with his lamp, and, with 
Drs. Sowers and Muriger, and others, saw our fel- 
low citizen, neighbor, friend and Christian 
brother breathe his last. Airs. Conklin was wild 
with grief, and heart-broken, and had to be taken 
into the house. 

Air. Conklin was born in Ohio in the year 1841, 
He leaves a wife, three sons and a mother. He 
came to New Mexico in 1879. and assisted in the 
Gazette office in Las Vegas. He went to Albuquer- 
que and started a paper in the spring of 1880, thence 
to Socorro, where he started the Socorro Sun. and 
was fast building up his paper, when he met his 
tragic end. Airs. C, assisted in the editorials by 
Rev. S. D. Fulton, will continue the paper. May 
her many friends assist her sad and responsible 
work. — Nezv Mexico Christian Advocate, Januarv. 
1881. 

1881. 

We did not quite finish up this year, 1881. Bro. 
Juan Garcia had been appointed to Palomas. He 
did not go to his appointment. I felt that as the 
appropriation was made for Palomas and he did not 
and would not go I refused to pay him. This gave 
rise to the cry of persecution and that I was keep- 



-344— 
History of New Mexico 

ing his money. Strange as it may seem he soon 
had sympathizing friends, Mexicans who espoused 
his cause without learning from me the reasons why 
the appropriation was not paid to him. I soon had 
letters from the board at New York calling my at- 
tention to the fact. 

Bro. Garcia had given us his reasons for not go- 
ing to Palomas as follows : 

1st. Didn't know that he was appointed there. 

2nd. His wife was not very well and he was 
afraid she could not have good health at Palomas. 

3rd. The Indians were nearly always on the 
war path down there and he was afraid. 

I think the reader will see at a glance that the first 
reason given would have been sufficient without any 
other, if it had been true. 

The Bishop also called my attention to the erec- 
tion of two churches. I explained that I had re- 
ceived from the Board of Church Extension $250 
on each. I told him that we had built them the best 
we could, that they were very good churches for the 
kind, board floors, windows, doors and board roof, 
that in order to get through with them that I had 
paid out of my own money $25 on each. He then 
showed me an anonymous letter, I knew the hand- 
writing and told the Bishop who wrote it. The 
Bishop asked how much did he give on said 
churches? I answered "not a penny that I have 
ever heard of." 

This led me to say to the Bishop that I have 



—345— 

Spanish and English Missions. 
paid not less than $25 on each of our seven churches 
and hope to be able to keep it up and have in most 
of the English work and all of the Spanish except 
one small church that cost only about $200 — but 
very few others have done that. I have up to date 
dedicated 50 churches and schools. 

At the Socorro conference I called the Bishop's 
attention to rumors about administering the mission- 
ary money, asked him to appoint a committee to ex- 
amine my account running back to 1872, when I 
was made superintendent of the Mission. He did 
so, I turned over the books, receipts, etc. The com- 
mittee brought in its report saying, "We have made 
a thorough examination of Bro. Harwood's ac- 
counts and find them correct except sixty cents 
against himself and we let that go." 

W. R. Kisti+er, Sec. 

The Board had appropriated that year $2,000 
conditional to purchase a school site in the Mesilla 
Valley. I made my report to the Conference stat- 
ing that "I had spent several days looking up a 
site, but not knowing where the railroad would 
come and the depot be and still not all satisfactory 
I had declined to recommend to the Board the pur- 
chase." At which one of the American preachers 
rose up and screamed out like a panther, "Two 
thousand dollars gone !" The Bishop came nobly to 
my aid, saying, "Why the $2,000 are not lost. The 
money has never come into Brother Harwood's 



—346- 



History of New Mexico 

hands at all. It is still in the treasury in New 
York." 

I have named the above, not that they are worth 
a place in a book, but simply to show that the sail- 
ing has not all been on calm seas. 

This year, 1881, I took a trip back to my old 
home, Delaware and Maryland. My brother, James 
A. Harwood, had passed away. When I visited 
him in 1875 I found him quite out of health and 
felt that the New Mexico climate might restore 
him to health. In 1878 he came out, but seemed 
restless and returned in the next October, but was 
somewhat improved. His son, Thomas M., and 
daughter, Susie, were with us and Bro. James 
seemed at first quite contented. He died while I 
was on the road. He became religious at an early 
period in life, united with the Methodist Episcopal 
church and remained a faithful member of the same 
until released from the church militant to join the 
church triumphant. He loved the doctrines and 
policy of the church at whose altars he found par- 
don. This writer had been separated from his 
brother James from the time he (James) was a 
beardless boy until he returned home to visit his 
friends in 1875. Brother James married in the 
meantime and reared a large family. I could hard- 
ly realize that he was the once beardless boy, so 
fair, so beautiful and tender, now a heavy beard 
growing white with age. What a visit it was, living 
over again our boyhood days, visiting old friends 



—347— 



Spanish and English Missions 



and once familiar faces and once familiar places. 
We talked, we sang, we prayed. How I missed 
him in that last visit. It was pleasant, however, to 
visit his family and friends and to hear them speak 
so kindly of o::e I had so long loved, and one with 
whom I stood, thirty years before, at the bedside of 
our dying mother with other brothers and sisters 
and received her parting blessing. Only two of 
that then sorrowing group of sixty years ago yet 
live; Mrs. Elizabeth Richardson, Carrollton, Mo., 
at the age of 70. A little before my brother passed 
away his friends were singing "I am clinging to the 
cross" Brother said, "I used to sing it that way, 'I 
am clinging to the cross,' but I now sing it 'I am 
resting at the cross.' " 



This year, 1882, Bishop Bowman held our an- 
nual meeting a^ain. This vear it was held at Albu- 
querque. 

Before the session was called I had a private talk 
with the Bishop and told him that "I am a loyal 
man, and not to consider me at all in the way of 
making any change in the superintendency or any 
of the appointments and put me anywhere in the 
Mission he might see fit to do, that I would go 
wherever lie said." The Bishop was very deliberate 
about it. He said to me, "You have already been 
superintendent of this Mission longer, he thought) 
.ban any other man had ever been of any mis- 




—348— 
History oj New Mexico 

rion." That was twenty-five years ago. When the 
appointments were read the Bishop announced as 
Superintendent, Thomas Harwood. 

The following named were called, and character 
passed : 

Thos. Harwood, Superintendent, in charge also 
at Tiptonville; W. R. Kistler, Albuquerque; J. A. 
Galen, Raton; D. M. Brown, Las Vegas; J. M. 
Davidson, Santa Fe; D. W. Potter, Socorro; E. L. 
Allen, Silver City ; Deming and Georgetown to be 
supplied ; Hills boro and Lake Valley to be sup- 
plied ; Benito Garcia, Circulita; J. Pablo Salazar, 
Gallina ; Juan Garcia, Antonchico ; Bias Gutierres, 
Valverde ; Marcos Barela, Las Cruces ; Rafael C. 
Gallegos, Peralta and Socorro; L. Frampton, Coy- 
ote, 

The superintendent gave into the hands of the 
Auditing Committee his accounts, receipts and 
vouchers, for the past ten years and the committee 
brought in its report that the accounts are correct. 

The following is a list of studies approved by the 
Bishop, for admission into the Traveling Connec- 
tion : 

1st. Following the Disciplinary Course as far 
as the books have been translated into the Spanish 
language, Arithmetic, Geography, Spanish gram- 
mar, Bible doctrine, Methodist Catechism and Book 
of Discipline. 

First Year. Doctrina de la Biblia; Compendio 
Tesologia ; Historia de la Iglesia por el Obispo 



—349 

Spanish and English Missions, 

Hurst; Vida de Wesley and Sermon escrito. 

Second Year. Historia de la Reformation ; His- 
toria de los Estados Unidos Vida de Carvoso : Evi- 
dencias del Cristianismo. 

Third Year. Telogia Natural por Paley ; La 
Vida de Hester Anna Rogers ; La Salvation por el 

Obispo Merrill: Que es menester hacer para ser 
Salvo por Obispo Peck; Sermones de Wesley; Cati- 
cismo de la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal ; Sermon 
Escrito. 

Fourth Year. Una Revista de todos los libros de 
los tres anos primeras ; Con tales obros libros bue- 
nos traducidos por este tiempo. 

The Bishop's late visit to the Old World, and his 
near approach to the Celestial City in his late ser- 
ious illness, only endeared him to us as never be- 
For and his lectures on the Old World, stirring ad- 
dress, wise counsels and fatherly bearing won all 
hearts. 

On the Sabbath he preached in English in Lead 
Avenue M. E. Church a fine sermon and also at 
night through an interpreter. L- Frampton inter- 
preted. The next conference was fixed to be held 
at Las Vegas. 

The missionary work is divided into English- 
speaking, Spanish-speaking and mixed and school 
work. 

Woman's Home Missionary Society. 
We are glad to report that the Woman's Home 



—350— 

History of New Mexico 

Missionary Society, organized in 1880, has made an 
appropriation to New Mexico and desires to come to 
our aid in the school work. The field is full of 
hope, and through these doors the cry goes out 
from many a poor, homeless child "Come over and 
help us," "Come with your schools/' "Come with 
your homes and give us a home/' 

Orphan Schools. 

We still believe, and desire to emphasize the fact, 
that in order to prepare to do our part as a church 
to evangelize the fifty millions of Spanish-speaking 
people in the world, there is no cheaper or more ef- 
fectual way than to establish orphan schools and 
train up from childhood on their own ground the 
future forces for these fields. The Missionary So- 
ciety made an experiment with such schools, but for 
too short a time. Said school w r as suspended last 
year. 

Territorial Industrial Schools. 
The closing of our orphan schools, one at Tip- 
tonville and one at Peralta, was an occasion of sor- 
row to the Superintendent, teachers and others. It 
was sad to bid our little fellows goodbye, as we 
supposed, for the last time from their pleasant 
home. But He who watches the sparrows when 
they fall, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and 
listens to the orphan's cry, remembered us and 
scarcely had the tears been brushed from our eyes 



—351— 



Spanish and English Missions 

when we were invited to call at the governor's of- 
fice. We did so and the governor explained about 
the territorial appropriation made by the last legis- 
lature for the care of indigent children. He said he 
"supposed it was expected that the Catholic School 
would get it all to educate their poor children, but 
I don't intend that they shall have it all/' said the 
governor "provided I can find some Protestant 
schools who will take some of these children as 
cheap as the Catholic Sisters will." I asked, "What 
wil be paid for each boy or girl?" The governor 
said, "We don't know yet," and asked me to 
"figure out and let him know." I did so and the 
price was fixed at $150 a year for each including 
hoard, tuition, clothing, washing and everything 
even transportation to and from the school." 

This was cheaper than the governor expected, 
so this became the price for whoever took any of 
them. So here we are, back at Toptonville, with 
sixteen boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have 
the most of the twenty-five orphan and indigent 
children. The Presbyterians, I think, have a few. 
We have always avoided using public schools funds, 
or public funds of any kind, in our Mission school 
work. When one of the Roman Catholic priests 
was at the head of the public school board of our 
county, he offered us fifty cents a month of school 
funds for each boy or girl taught in our school, but 
we declined accepting it on the ground that ours 
was a denominational school and we have no right. 



—352— 
History of New Mexico 

neither have you, to use public founds "for denom- 
inational school, but the Catholics were doing that 
all the time. But this orphanage fund was differ- 
ent but even that was kept separate from our Mis- 
sion school. At this time there was and had been 
much discussion in the public print about the Ro- 
manists using public funds for their schools. 

New Mexico in a State of Transition. 

From 1872 until about 1880 and still later New 
Mexico was in a state of transition especially in the 
matter of schools. It might be well said that the 
public school has come up out of great tribulation. 
We can't say exactly as the Bible has it, that they 
4 'washed their robes in the blood of Lamb/' but 
we can say that they were baptized in hot discus- 
sions in the legislature, in the press, in the neighbor- 
hoods, in the families and in the pulpits and in a 
few instances in assaults, in violence and in blood. 
Those were the days of "tract stealing/' "boycot- 
ting" and "Bible burning." If any one wishes to 
deny that Bibles were burned in New Mexico up to 
within a short time passed I wish he would do it 
before I pass away. 

1883 

The Eighth Annual Mission Meeting was held 
at Las Vegas, December 27-30, by Bishop Edward 
G. Andrews. 

The proceedings were published as our first pub- 



1 - "J _ 

Spanish and English Missions, 
lished minutes of the Mission. 

A reception was given to the Bishop which was 
full of interest and well attended; and at which the 
following resolutions were passed : 

Resolved, That we welcome and hail with de- 
light, the coming of Bishop Andrews to the land of 
Montezuma, the City of Las Vegas and our be- 
loved church. 

Bishop Andrews heartily responded to the above. 

The Bishop preached a fine sermon at 11 p. m. 
Text: "Have Faith in God." At night: "Create 
in me a clean heart O, God, and renew a right Spirit 
within me." 

Taken from my annual report to the Board at 
Xew York, 1883, as follows: 

"The year has been one of trials, hardships and 
perplexities. It has on the other hand been a year 
of joys, based on the fact that hard work for the 
Master brings peace of mind and joy of heart. 

I have traveled this year as per my diary, 11,200 
mile by rail, 1,450 by stage and other ways, by 
night and by day, in heat and cold, amid calm and 
storm and sometimes,, night and cold and storm in 
my own soul : but so much more have been the calm, 
the light, the joy within, I count the former simply 
as flitting clouds across the summer sky of "the 
joy of my soul." 

Thanking the church for the confidence mani- 
fested in me. in so long intrusting this responsible 
work t<> my care, and my brethren for their conn- 



—354— 



History of New Mexico 

sel, their sympathy and forbearance, and last, but 
not least, the substantial evidence of their regard, 
and kind Heavenly Father for His continued lov- 
ing care, I submit this my twelfth annual report of 
our growing work, praying that the work, so full of 
promise, may continue to grow until this whole land 
shall become a part of the Kingdom of Our Lord 
and His Christ. 

The Bishop read the appointments 

Just before reading the appointments he re- 
marked : 

"By the way, brothers, before I proceed further 
there is a little matter to regulate, and then talked 
very nicely about something that I didn't under- 
stand and soon turned and said : 

"Brother Harwood, in behalf of the Mission and 
the high esteem in which you are held by your 
brothers of the Mission and others, I present you 
this watch.'' At once I was on my feet and said, "I 
would like to say something, but this is so unlooked 
for bv me that I don't know what to say." 

The Bishop said, "Sit down then." That helped 
a little and I said, "I am in the habit of obeying my 
superiors in office, but I don't believe I will obey the 
Bishop just yet." I trred to thank the brethren, but 
it was such up-hill business I gave it up, much to 
the delight of all present. 

Suffice it to say that it was a beautiful new gold 
watch which I have carried with great pleasure and 
high appreciation of the donors for almost twenty- 



— -355— 

Spanish and English Missions 

four years : 

Appointments : — 

Thos. Hanvood, Superintendent, Tiptonville. 
English Work:— 
Albuquerque — W. R. Kistler. 
Deming, Lake Valley and Hillsboro, to be sup- 
plied. 

Las Vegas — D. M. Brown. 

Raton and Blossburg — E. L. Latham. 

Santa Fc, to be supplied. 

Socorro and San Marcial — D. W. Potter, 

Silver City — J. A. Callen. 

Springer and Tiptonville — A. J. Drury. 

White Oaks, to be supplied. 

Spanish Work : — 

Albuquerque, to be supplied. 

. \ 1 1 1 och i co — Ju an Garcia . 

Coyote, Mora and Red River — Lachomus Framp- 
ton. 

Costilla and Taos, to be supplied by Albert Ja- 
cobs. 

Dona Ana — Pamphilo Gonzales. 

La Gallina and Cerulita — Tuan Sandoval. 

Peralta— X. W. Chase. 

Peralta Circuit — Ambrosio Gonzales. 

Taos, to be supplied by T. M. Planvood. 

Tiptonville — Epifanio Flores. 

Valverde and Socorro — Bias Gutierres. 

Wagon Mound and Cimarron — Benito Garcia. 

Las Cruces and Palomas — Marcos Barela. 

Edward G. Andrews, Pres. 



—356— 
thsiory of New Mexico 



The Conference oe 1884. 

The conference of 1884 was held at Socorro, by 
Bishop Cyrus D, Foss, D.D. The conference was 
opened in the usual way, the Lord's Supper was ad- 
ministered by the Bishop, assisted by the Superin- 
tendent and others. 

The members were nearly all present, and an- 
swered to their names at the calling of the roll. 

The Rev. Ambrosio Gonzales had died. He 
passed quietly from labor to reward, Oct. 7, 1884, 
at his home at Peralta, New Mexico. This was the 
first death of any of the members of the Mission 
since its organization and the Spanish churches 
mourned for a brother beloved. He was the first 
Protestant among the Mexican people in New Mex- 
ico so far as we can learn. He died at the age of 
72 as given by his family. 

At this conference Bro, R, W, Kistler was elected 
Secretary; Bro. Frampton, interpreter. 

As this was the first conference whose minutes 
were published we give the following report : 

Cost of publishing Minutes. $68.00 

Collected from Advertising $51.00 

Sale of Minutes 21.00 



Total, $72.00 

So there was a balance of $4.00, 



—357 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 

Special Reports. 

First. The remoteness of this field of labor from 
the base of all temporal supplies from the east or 
west makes this the extreme of high prices. 

Second. The native people, so recently breaking 
away from Romanism, still in the midst of their Ro- 
man Catholic enemies and persecutors and very 
poor, could not be expected to do much toward self- 
support. 

Third. The American people who have come 
among us up to the present time, as a rule, may be 
found in the following five classes : Speculators, 
health-seekers, military or government officials, re- 
tired or otherwise, and not a few to evade the law. 
They were not here to get religion or to build up 
church institutions, but after all many of them did 
their part pretty well even in this particular, except 
they seemed hard to move on spiritual lines. 

Efforts Made on Self-Support. 

The Superintendent has tried hard to work up 
the subject of self-support in the quarterly confer- 
ences, public congregations and in not a few instances 
has circulated subscription papers himself for his 
preachers and we have often published articles in 
El Abogado on the importance of the people helping- 
themselves. We are glad that some progress has 
been made, but not as satisfactory as we had hoped. 
Memorial Services. 

Memorial services were held for the Rev. Am- 



- 358— 

History oj Nczv Mexico 

brosio Gonzales who died Oct. 7, 1884, at Peralta, 
aged 72. The Rev. Santos Telles, who died March 
oT 1885, aged 102. 

Miss May E. Brown, a Mission teacher, who 
taught at Tiptonviile, Las Vegas and Socorro, a fine 
teacher and a noble specimen of Christian character. 
She died on the train with her brother, Rev. D. W. 
Brown on her way home from Socorro to her 
brother's home in Las Vegas. Also 

Miss Emma A. Sinrock, a daughter of the Rev. 
Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Sinnock of Raton. Bra. Sin- 
nock is a member of the Illinois conference. She 
raid as she was dying, "It pays to be ready/' "Jesus 
is precious.'' 

Also Mrs. Ana Maria Rael Garcia died at Tip- 
tonville, March 8, 1884, aged 78. She was mother 
of our Brother Benito Garcia, our first ordained 
Mexican preacher. La Senora Garcia was convert- 
ed and united with the Baptist church, with her 
husband in about 1854. She was a grand woman, 
long a patient worker. She was grandmother to 
Bro. Ernesto B. Garcia of our Mission student 
in the Southern California Conference University. 

English and Spanish. 

For seven years I have given my reports in both 
languages so that it could be seen at a glance just 

how the work stands. 



- 359— 



Spanish and English Missions 

Historical Society. 

At our annual conference a year ago a commit- 
tee was appointed to prepare a constitution and by- 
laws for the Historical Society. Since this was 
done we were glad to notice that the General Con- 
ference has prepared for the General Historical So- 
ciety, and recommends that each conference have 
an Historical Society. 

It was a pleasure to have been in Xew Mexico 
before the railroads came; so it is a pleasure also to 
have gotten ahead of the General Conference in the 
matter of an Historical Society. 

The committee reported in part as follows : 

kk \Ye regard the introduction and growth of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in this territory of the 
United States a realm over which Roman Catholic- 
ism has held independent sway, and the continued 
survival of many of the workmen whose labors 
have been in this field, co-teraporaneous with the 
growth of our church, prolific sources now accessi- 
ble of great advantages to historic gatherings. 

D. M. Brown, 
Trios. Harwood, 
W. R. Kistl^r. 

Special report : 

"In view of the scarcity of books in the Spanish 
language suitable for our Conference Studies and 
for the Spanish-speaking people ; Therefore 

Resolved; That the Methodist Episcopal Pub- 
lishing House be requested to print such books as 



-360— 
History oj New Mexico 

are needed in the course of study and the propaga- 
tion of the gospel of Christ among the Spanish- 
speaking people." 

Twenty-three years have passed since the above 
was passed by our mission. The Methodist Episco- 
pal Church South has since seen the importance of 
such publications and has prepared for it. Do we not 
now see that said advice was wise and timely? 

The Migratory Character of Our Work. 

Our work is somewhat like the summer birds, at 
least in places. The birds come and go and some- 
times they seem to go more than they come. This 
last statement is too true with some of our work, so 
that in a few instances the flock is not without a 
Shepherd, but a shepherd without a flock. 

A Striking Contrast. 
In this field there is a tough undergrowth. In 
the early settlement of the Eastern states our fath- 
ers found a heavy growth of timber and a tough 
undergrowth that had to be cleared away before the 
soil could be tilled and crops raised. It was not so 
with many of their sons in settling much of the 
West. Hence the Western farmer had the advant- 
age. He could plow the western prairies and plant 
the seed and reap an early harvest. There is not that 
difference in our work in other fields. We find here 
the heavy growth of a Spanish priesthood and a 
tough undergrowth of Romish ideas woven and 
interwoven into the minds of the people. The fal- 



—361 — 

Spanish and English Missions. 
low ground is hard to break up, 

It could not be expected that we make the pro- 
gress here on this steril soil that we could were it a 
different soil. But the Lord helping us we will 
break up this sterile soil, sow the gospel seed, watch 
the growing crop, the reaping time will come and 
some one will gather the ripened harvest. 

Dear brethren, if we shall fall ere the fields are 
ready for the harvest, and others shall gather of our 
toil in breaking up and sowing, we shall not lose 
our reward. The Master said, "One soweth and 
another reapeth, so let us not be weary in well do- 
ing, for in due time we shall reap if we faint not." 

The Two Missions, English-Speaking and the 
Spanish. 

The General Conference at my own solicitation 
and petition had arranged for the two Missions, 
one to be known as the "New Mexico English/' 
and the other as the "New Mexico Spanish." 

This was a nice time for a little speculation as to 
who would be appointed superintendent of the Eng- 
lish and who would superintend the Spanish. As I 
had never asked to be sent to New Mexico as a 
missionary, and when the New Mexico Mission 
had been formed in 1872 I had not asked to be 
made its superintendent, I thought I would not 
break the record of which I was justly proud, I 
concluded I would not do so now, and would leave 
the Bishops free to make such appointments as they 



—362— 
History oj New Mexico 

saw fit to make. Some things were said, however, 
at the Fall General Missionary meeting that were 
not as palatable as might have been desired, and not 
only did the toiling, struggling superintendent in 
the two languages, and in this rough undergrowth 
of Romanism feel it but many of his friends felt it 
and spoke of it with much indignation. "The New 
Mexico Mission is a grand field. " All right. We 
out at this end of the line know it. "It must be 
sustained with larger appropriations." All right. 
We were glad to hear it. "We must have strong 
men to superintend that work out there, and to get 
strong men we must pay them." Yes, "that country 
is filling up rapidly and other denominations are 
going in and it will take strong men to man that 
work, and we must increase the appropriations." 
"Yes, we can't expect a man, a competent man, to 
go down into a country like that, unless we pay 
him well, and hence I move $....," which was over 
the former appropriation. It was not long before 
some one said, "Well, Brother Harwood, they are 
going to send a strong man down here next year. 
Yes, Brother Harwood, and it just provoked us to 
read where those men talked that way, but I sup- 
pose," said the lady, "they never stopped to think 
how it was casting a reflection upon the man who 
lias borne the burden down here for all these years, 
doing the work that you have done." Perhaps I 
would make no reference to such things as these 
only as a lesson for the future, so that such reflec- 



—363— 

Spanish an J English Missions, 
tions may not be repeated. I know of no other busi- 
ness or profession in which such reflections are in- 
dulged in except the ministry. 

Suppose some night in our Civil War, after I 
had stood all night on picket amid a raging storm 
and danger that the commander next day had said 
"We must have a brave man to send out on the picket 
line tonight?" I presume I would have felt like 
turning my musket the other way. 

A Special Committee. 

As there had been some criticisms on my man- 
agement the year before and on the expenditure of 
missionary funds, at the last Socorro Conference I 
asked the Bishop to appoint a special committee to 
examine my accounts. "I think I am an honest 
man." said, I "and if I am not, I want the commit- 
tee to find it out and let me know." 

The committee was appointed. I turned my 
books and receipts over into their hands. They, 
after a day or two, brought in their report which 
stated that the "accounts were all correct except 
sixty cents and that was against himself and we let 
it go." 

At the next conference at Santa Fe there was 
something said about the former criticisms in the 
presence of Bishop Fowler. The secretary of the 
conference. Rev. W. R. Kistler, told me that "the 
Bishop said he didn't believe there was a mission 
whose funds had been administered more judici- 



—364— 
History oj New Mexico 

ously and honestly than this New Mexico Mission/' 
Up to this time about $90,000 had come through 
my hands and much of it while Bishop Fowler was 
one of the corresponding secretaries and to have 
Bishop Fowler make such a remark was quite com- 
plimentary and I appreciated it very much. 

Comparisons. 

It occasionally came to me that the New Mexico 
Mission was receiving more money than it ought to 
have. I would hear it occasionally in the Colorado 
Conference of which I and all our Mexican preach- 
ers were members until we were organized into a 
Mission Conference. Also at some of the General 
Missionary meetings of the society remarks were 
sometimes made that made us out in New Mexico 
feel that the feeling was growing in the church that 
the New Mexico Mission was receiving more money 
than it ought to have, so that in 1888, having the 
reports of the Missionary Society all in my library 
I concluded I would figure it out and see for my- 
self how the comparison might stand. It was surely 
with no invidious spirit I made the comparisons for 
from my youth up I have been pleased to see the 
progress made in all our Mission fields, and especial- 
ly among the Latin races, since I began our Spanish 
work in New Mexico in 1869. I was highly de- 
lighted when Dr. William Butler was sent down into 
Mexico in 1872. I remembered well when he went 
to India in 1850, and the Sepoy Rebellion was quite 



— 365 

Spanish and English Missions. 
familiar to me and I felt a special interest in the 
opening of the work in Mexico as well as that in 
South America. 

Counting the cost of Mission funds from 1872 to 
1888, less the value of church property acquired 
during this time, also less the benevolent collections 
returned to their respective boards, the ratios stand 
as follows per cost of each member and probationer. 
The Xew Mexico Spanish one. The Xew Mexico 
English, three: Mexico, six; South America six 
and a half. That is to say. to hold the American 
members and converts in Xew Mexico in the same 
field with the Spanish work has cost the mission 
funds of the church three times as much as each 
member in the Spanish work. Let it be remember- 
ed here also that the most of the American member- 
ship has come to Xew Mexico while the entire mem- 
bership in the Spanish work has been converted on 
the ground and our ministry developed here. Now 
when we call to mind that we have had a foreign 
language to learn, and foreign customs and deep- 
seated prejudices to overcome, the progress is cer- 
tainly marvelous. 

A Final Farewell to the English-Speaking 
and Probably to the Spanish. 

In this my last report to the English and probab- 
ly to the Spanish I offered a few closing remarks in 
which in part. I said ; 

"You will all ever have a warm place in my 



—366— 
History of New Mexico 

affections. I can never forget your kindness, how 
warmly you have sympathized with me in all my 
trials, how kindly you have treated me at all your 
quarterly meetings, camp meetings and what respect 
you have always shown me at your homes and how 
kindly I have always been treated by your families. 
But of course I realize that it was not for me only 
that you have shown such respect, but as it ought 
to be, it lias been a manifestation for the interest in 
the cause I represent. 

"With all the trials, responsibilities and hard- 
ships of this work no period of my life comes before 
me with such beauty and interest as the past fifteen 
years of my life from 1869 to 1884, of mission work 
in this eventful field. 

"During my sojourn with you I have seen gov- 
ernors, judges and other civil officers come into New 
Mexico, serve their terms, go out of office and some 
out of the country. " 

"I have seen ministers of other denominations 
come into New Mexico also, serve their time, or at 
least I suppose until they were tired of it and go 
out ; preachers of our own church have also come and 
gone quite a number, but for some reason your super- 
intendent has been left to fill one of the most re- 
sponsible positions in the church for all these long 
and eventful years ; and even now no church author- 
ity has said that I must be removed, neither has 
any one in our Mission intimated that I ought to 
close my work or that there ought to be a change. 



— 367 

Spanish and English Missions. 

For all this I am thankful, but my own judgment 
tells me that there ought to be a change, at least in 
the English-speaking work and as to the Spanish 
work I shall willingly submit to the powers that be. 

"And now, clear brethren, commending you to 
God, and to the word of his grace, I bid you an af- 
fectionate farewell/' 

Appointments as Made by Bishop Foss, 1884, 

Superintendent, Thos. Harwood. 
English-speaking: 
Albuquerque, W. R. Kistler. 
Hillshoro and Lake Valley, J. A. Hardinbrook. 
Las Vegas, to be supplied. 
Raton and Blossburg, J. W Sinnock. 
Santa Fe, D. M. Brown. 
Socorro, X, \Y. Chase. 
Silver City, D. W. Potter. 
Tiptonville. to be suppiled. 
Spanish work: 
Albuquerque, Benito Garcia. 
Albuquerque circuit, Juan Garcia. 
Antochico, T. F. Chavez. 
Costilla and Taos, Albert Jacobs. 
Dona Ana, Silvestre Garcia. 
Coyote, Mora and Red River, Lachoneos Framp- 
ton. 

Espanola, sub. by F. E. Montoya, 
Las Cruces. Marcos Barela. 
Palomas circuit, to be supplied. 



— 36S— 
Histerv of New Mexico 



Peralta, T. M. Harwood. 
Santa Fe, J. Pablo Salazar. 
Socorro and La Joya, Cristobal Salazar. 
Taos Circuit, Lauriano Vargas. 
Tiptonville and Gallina, supplied by Epifanio 
Flores. 

Valverde, Bias Gutierrez. 
Wagon Mound, Juan SandovaL 



The reader will see that I am still in the work. 
The work was divided by the General Conference 
of 1884. Rev S. W. Thornton was appointed Su- 
perintendent of the English speaking Mission and 
Thos, Harwood of the Spanish. Bishop Fowler 
met these Missions as follows: The Spanish at 
Peralta, Sept., 24-28 and the English Oct., 1"5, in 
Santa Fe 1885. 

In S. W. Thornton's first report to the Mis- 
sionary Society he says: "Your superintendent 
was appointed December 22, 1884 and came at once 
to the work. We find eight charges occupied, with 
five churches and three parsonages. All this has 
grown np under that faithful missionary Rev. 
Thos. Harwood. These eight missions are plant- 
ed in the center of the population along: the Atch- 
ison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, for adistance 



ica. 




—369— 

Spanish and English Missions, 

of 521 miles, etc. ...Our congregations are good 
and growing, our Sunday schools flourishing. We 
report 183 members and with special gladness do 
we report that we have raised seventy five cents 
per member for missions on the "million dollar 
call." 

The charges were as follow^: 

Albuquerque, W. R. Kistler. 

Hiiisboro. Lake Valley and Kingston, J. W, 
Hardenbrrook. 

LasCruces, To be suplied. 
La> Vegas, D. M. Brown. 

Magdalena and Carthage, To be supplied. 

Raton and Blossburg. J, W. Sinnock, 

Santa Fe, G. S. Hubbs. 

The superintendent said. "Santa Fe, oldest 
city in America, Population about 5,000, one 
third of whom are Americans. Santa Fe is the 
seat of an Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic 
Church, embracing the See of Santa Fe, as Me- 
tropolis, and the vicariates apostolic of Denver and 
Arizona as suffragans. The dignity of a metro- 
politan See was thus given under "the ring of the 
fisherman. " Feb., 12, 1875; by Pope Pious IX. Here 
are convents, Brother's schools, Sisters of Loretta, 
Here is such a blending of the ancient and the 
modern as can be found no where else in the na- 



—370— 

History of New Mexico 

tion, the nineteeth century crowding itself into the 
lethargy of the sixteenth, and breaking- it up. 
Somehow this has been a sterile field for Method- 
ism We have a neat church, [adobe] and parson- 
age, etc.,": At Silver City we had a church build- 
ing and parsonage, H. C. Coats, pastor. 

Socorro, N. W. Chase. 

Springer, to be supplied. 

Thus it will be seen that the mission gave off 
to the English work: missionaries, 6; members, 
181; probationers, 11; local preachers. 3; Sunda) r 
school, |7; scholars, 555; Churches 7; value, $35,000. 
That left us for the Spanish work, missionaries 16, 
members 284, probationers, 152; Sunday schools 11; 
scholars, 276; Day scholars, 274. 

Thus we start in the new arrangement. The 
tree has grown in one trunk, as it were, up to the 
present, and now branches off into two branches, 
the English and the Spanish. I feel lonely, some- 
what as I sever my present relations with the 
American brethern, but feel that the Lord is in it 
and I am therefore content . I. humbly pray that 
the English mission, under its new superintendent 
may rapidly grow in numbers and in spiritual pow- 
er and become more and more a blessing to the 
Spanish speaking people as well as to the incom- 
ing English speaking. 



—371— 

Spanish and English Missions. 
Chronological. 



The first Methodist lipiscopp] missionary sent 
to New Mexico was Rev, E, G. Nicholson in 1850. 
He resided in Santa Fe. He had a small congre- 
gation composed wholly of Americans residing- in 
Santa Fe, and mostly connected with the army. 
The headquarters of the army having* afterward 
been removed from Santa Fe, the congregation 
was reduced and Mr. Nicholson returned home. He 
was sent back however in 1858 with Mr. Hanson 
of the Swedish Mission in New York, as assistant. 
Benigno Cardenas, a converted Roman Catholic 
priest, was engaged as a second assistant. 

The above named priest preached the first 
Methodist sermon in Spanish so far as known, in 
Santa Fe, on the 20th of November 1853. At the 
same time the first Protestant baptism tookplaceby 
Mr. Nicholson, the babe of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, 

The Baptists and Presbyterians sent out mis- 
sionaries at about the same time. Ambrosio Gon- 
zales of Peralta is said to have been the first con- 
vert to Protestantism among the Mexican people in 
New Mexico. This was about 1853. He became 
a preacher and was the first Methodist preach- 
er among* the Spanish speaking people. Rev. Dr. 
Lore was sent out to New Mexico in 1855, but re- 



—372— 
History of New Mexico 

mained only a short time. 

1865.— Father Dyer took his first ride down 
into New Mexico. In 1865 he preached what was 
said to have been the first Protestant sermon ever 
preached on the Maxwell grant. 

1868. — New Mexico was made a district and 
Father Dyer, as he was always familiar known was 
appointed Presiding Elder and made his head- 
quarters at Elizabethtown, and in 1869 made his 
headquarters in Santa and organized a small class 
and Sunday school. In this same year 1869 the 
writer of this book came to New Mexico, Not 1872 
as Bishop Simpson says in his "Cyclopedia of Me- 
thodism," pages 651 and 826, but on page 433 the 
Bishop says, "When the territory was separated, 
in 1873 from the Colorado Conference Rev. Thos. 
Harwood was appointed superintendent of the mis- 
tion in New Mexico which position he still holds." 
[1878.) I am interested in this matter for I don't 
want to be cheated out of three years and these the 
first in the Mission, 

1870.— This year, July 3, the church at Eli- 
zabethtown was dedicated by me, Thos Harwood. 
Also in November the same year the church and 
school building at Tiptonville was dedicated b3 r 
me. 



—373— 

Spanish and English Missions. 



\ 5 




From "El Abogado Cristiano Neo Mexicano" of 
March 1904. — When the old gentleman is awa)^the 
boy does as he pleases. 1 ' This accounts for the 
appearance in this issue of the accompanying- il 
lustrations. Dr. Harwood the senior editor is 
awa) T over in Arizona, and as we are two or three 
days ahead of time with this number, we thought 
we could print this electrotype with the others 
and send the paper out before getting caught. We 



-374— 
History oj New Mexico 

are willing to stand a scolding* or even a risk of 
being- discharged, if by printing: these we may 
please our readers. 

The first cut on this page is a true representa- 




tion of our first permanent church and school build- 
ing in the Territory. Dr. and Mrs. Harwood came 
to New Mexico in October, 1869. It will be notic- 
ed that the date on the building' is 1870, so that 
in the interval, only one year had passed, but be- 



—375— 

Spanish a) id English Missions. 

sides this church he had finished a building - at 
Elizabethtown, and had visited quite a number of 
places in the Teritory. Mrs. Harwood opened a 
school in Cherry Valley, where she taught until it 




was moved to La Junta, now Tipton vi lie. 

To this school many students attended from 
different places in the Territory, boarding- in the 
home of Dr. and Mrs. Harwood, while from a dis- 
tance of 2 to 6 miles others would come on horse 
back or in carriages and some on foot, so great 



--376— 
History oj New Mexico 

was the desire among- nearly all the American and 
quite a number of the Mexican people to educate 
their children. There are scores of people, includ- 
ing- the writer, who bless the day the La Junta In- 
stiture was founded, and who appreciate the noble 
efforts and the success of Dr. and Mrs. Harwood 
She has left her cross and has received her 4 \vell 
done', with a crown, while her companion still 
lingers and toils as of old, waiting- for the call of 
the Master to greater conquests or to 'come bless- 
ed of my father."— T. M, H. 

The following- will explain itself : 

Galesville, Wis. 
Rev. Thos. Harwood: 
My dear brother; 

It becomes my pleasant duty as well as 
a great privilege to inform you that at the meet- 
ing- of the trustees and faculty of Galesville Uni- 
versity, Wisconsin, June 22, 1870, the degree of 
Master of Arts was then unanimousl}" conferred 
upon you, in view of your hig-h intellectual at- 
tainments and vour thorough acquaintance with 
all the branches of science usually taught in our 
hig-h schools and colleges. Hoping you will ac- 
cept the honor I remain 

Yours obediently, 

H. Gilliland. 
President, Galesville University. 

Galesville, Wis. 



—377— 



Spanish and English Missions 

The following is a list of the preachers who 
have been connected with the Mission since its 
commencement up to the close of this volume-1885: 



E. G. Nicholson from 1850 to 1853. d 

Walter Hanson 1855-1853 d 

Benigno Cardenas 1S52-1S55 d 

D. D. Lore 1855-1856 d 

J. L. Dyer , 1868-1870 d 

Thomas Harwood 1869- 

Ambrosio C. Gonzales 1864-1884 d 

Benito Garcia 1871-1888 d 

John Steele 1872-1879 d 

M. Matthieson 1873-1881 

F. J. Tolby 1373-1875 d 

J. H. Roberts 1874-1878 

Juan Garcia 1874-189 d 

— McElroy \ 1874-1875 d 

O. P. Mc Mains 1875-1878 d 

Geo. Murray , .1876-1878 

Bias Uutierrez 1876-1904 d 

Marcos Barela 1886-1906 d 

N. H. Gale 1877-1881 d 

J. Pablo Salazar ... .. 1878-1884 

D. W, Calfee 1879-1881 

L. Frampton 1880-1901 d 

E. H. Brooks 1880-1882 d 

R. C. Gallegos 1880-1882 

H. H. Hall 1880-1881 



—378 — 
History of New Mexico 



E. L, Allen..... ..1880-1884 

J. A. Callen 1880-1884 

D. W. Potter 1881-1885 

W. R. Kistler 1881-1889 d 

D. M. Brown 1881-1885 

H.. M. Hackney........ 1881-1882 d 

J. M. Davidson.... 1882-1882 d 

E. L. Latham....... 1882-1884 

T M. Harwood .1882- 

Albert Jacobs 1883-1898 d 

A. J. Urury 1883-1884 

N. W. Chase 1883-1891 

Epifanio Flores 1883-1899 

W. R. Willis..... 1883-1883 

L. Vargas 1883-189- 

A. A. Hyde 1883-1900 d 

J. A. Hardenbrook 1884-1886 

J. W. Sinnock : 1884- 

Silvestre Garcia 1884-1900 d 

Cristobal Salazar 1884-1890 d 



Local Pkeacheks. 



Santos Telles 1876-1883 d 

Jose Padilla . ....1882-1897 d 

Jose A. Baca y Pino .1884-1896 d 



—379— 

Spanish and English Missions 
Elect Ladies. 



Mrs, Emily J. Harwood 1869-1902 d 

" N. H. Gale. , .;. ........1877-1878 d 

. " D, W. Potter 1881-1885 d 

" Viviana Gonzales.. 1855-1888 d 

" F. N. Cordova: . . . . 1884-1885 d 

" Cristobal Salazar .................1884-1900 d 

" Lola Jacobs Martinez.. ...1883-1906 d 

" W. R. Kistier 1881-1905 d 

" Bias Gutierrez...., 1874-1889 d 

" Ana Maria Rael de Garcia 1854-1884 d 

" Marcos Barela 1886-1904 d 

Mis* May E, Brown ..1882-1884 d 

" Emma A. Sinnock. ; ....1883-1883 d 



In the above lists [d] stands for deceased. 
That shows that twenty-four preachers in the reg" 
ular work before the close of this volume, 1884, 
have passed away, also four local preachers and 
thirteen of our most excellent women. 



The author of this book, although already con- 
siderate advanced in years, hopes and prays that 
he may live to finish a book, already commenced, 
which will gfive a brief biography of all the above 
named. The book will be called "Forty Years 
Among- the Mexicans." The author is vain enough 
(if it be vanity) to think that he is the only man 
now left who is sufficiently well acquainted with 
those heroic preachers and those elect women to do 
them justice. The bookwiil likely first appear in 
Spanish. If we could have the means it will 



— 380— 



History of New Mexico 

likely appear in English and Spanish at about the 
same time. We are the more desirous to do this, 
because if we do not, we fear it will never be done. 
There is scarcely any of the above named at whose 
house (if he had a family) I have not been a guest; 
slept in their houses, eaten at their tables, prayed 
in their families, met them at their churches and 
chapels, baptized their children, preached the fu- 
neral sermons of many of their families and 
friends, wept with those who wept and rejoiced 
with those who rejoiced. Much of which comes up 
before me with sad but grateful remembrance. Let 
the reader cast a silent but earnest prayer that the 
author may live to do as he thus wishes to do. But 
"not my will, oh Lord, but Thine be done. 

With the above we bid our readers an affection- 
ate farewell until we greet them with the next vol- 
ume or meet them where history will not have to 
be written. 



END OF FIRST VOLUME. 



